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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301481">The Great 2021 Frozen 2 AU</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MKZ4345/pseuds/MKZ4345'>MKZ4345</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TAZ Balance Frozen Movies AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Frozen (Disney Movies), The Adventure Zone (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Frozen (Disney Movies) Fusion, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Temporary Amnesia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:23:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>41,317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301481</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MKZ4345/pseuds/MKZ4345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A magical king, his beloved sister, and a strange glowing glacier. An investigative expedition goes wrong, but no one can remember how... Where did this storm come from? Why does Magnus feel as though he has failed to protect someone dear to him?<br/>Two years later, Taako hears a familiar voice calling him. Will he risk this perfect life, the monarchy as the last living member of the Royal Family, just to uncover this mystery?<br/>And when it all comes down to it... IS it illegal to kiss your ambassador?!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Lup &amp; Taako (The Adventure Zone)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TAZ Balance Frozen Movies AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome back! Or, welcome for the first time! I have made so much progress on this fic since December, so I thought I would start posting it! As of right now, there are only two chapters left to be written! Also, I added a chapter. Because of this, instead of posting two chapters every week, I'm not going to have a solid schedule this time. I don't like not having a schedule for posting, but I still don't know when I'll finish the last two chapters. Please bear with me while I finish them!<br/>Originally, I only posted the first chapter of this as a Candlenights gift, which is why it says it was posted on December 25th. Thankfully, nothing from the first chapter was changed since then. I hope you enjoy reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There had been an old building built as an embassy for a foreign ambassador in Arendelle. It had never been used, it had been finished just before Taako’s powers had been discovered. Understandably, the king and queen had been preoccupied with other things at the time. Then they had tragically died at sea, which meant that the project had been completely dropped. But now, with Taako as king, and with Kravitz having finally finished the required paperwork, the embassy had been cleaned and readied for their first ever foreign ambassador to live there. </p><p>Kravitz loved the embassy, he told Taako such at their first meeting. The embassy sat in  the countryside of Arendelle. Taako had been worried initially about it being too far away from the castle, but Kravitz couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful the view was of the kingdom. That calmed his nerves over it.</p><p>“So, we should get started,” Lucretia said, pulling papers out to lay on the table in front of her. She was the only one standing, at the head of the long conference table that Taako, Lup, Magnus, Davenport, and Kravitz were sitting. The morning’s light filtered through the curtains onto the long wooden table, also catching Taako’s glittering blue cape that was draped awkwardly over the arm of his chair. “As you should know, the princess will be joining Captain Avi, accompanied by Magnus of course, on an expedition in just a few days. While they’re gone, we need to figure out how we are going to keep the people calm.”</p><p>“If I may, Royal Adviser,” Kravitz said hesitantly, raising a hand slightly as if he were in school.</p><p>“Of course,” Lucretia said. “And you can call me Lucretia.”</p><p>“Lucretia,” Kravitz corrected with a nod. “Um… Why am I in this meeting?”</p><p>“That’s part of my suggestion,” Taako said, raising a hand too, mostly to make Kravitz not feel silly. “If you’d all like to hear it.”</p><p>“Go ahead,” Lucretia said. </p><p>“The Autumn Festival is coming up,” Taako started, standing up. “I thought it would be a great chance for Kravitz to learn about the kingdom and our people if he were to help me plan it with you, Lucretia.”</p><p>“Is that even what an ambassador is supposed to do?” Lup asked quietly, mostly to herself.</p><p>“Uh,” Lucretia shuffled some papers around. “… I’ll be honest, your parents didn’t really leave behind a lot about what ambassadors should do.”</p><p>“Then I say it’s something he should be able to do.” Taako turned back to them with another smile. “It won’t be that difficult, you won’t even have to do a lot of the work.”</p><p>“Will they even trust me?” Kravitz asked timidly, folding his hands on the table.</p><p>“If we ask them to trust you, they will,” Lup reassured, reaching across the table to grab his hand. “They’re good people, and so are you. If they work with you they’ll see that.”</p><p>Kravitz sighed, squeezing her hand. “Alright. I’ll do my very best for you all, and for your people.”</p><p>“Great!” Taako exclaimed, hopping back into his seat, draped across the arm rests instead of sitting normally in it. “What else are we here to talk about?”</p><p>“Oh right,” Lucretia said, looking back at her papers. “After Lup gets back, Captain Davenport will be going with Kravitz back to Goodcastle for a meeting with King Grimaldis.”</p><p>“Okay,” Taako said, pursing his lips. “Why does that warrant a full meeting?”</p><p>“Because, he wants to talk about a possible ambassador for Arendelle moving to Goodcastle,” Lucretia answered, finally sitting down in her chair.</p><p>“Uh, do we know how to do that?” Taako whispered to Lup out of the side of his mouth.</p><p>“I have no idea,” Lup whispered back.</p><p>“If he ends up being serious, we need to seriously start considering certain people to fill that roll,” Lucretia said, ignoring them. “I am letting you know well ahead of time just in case.”</p><p>“Mm,” Taako hummed. “Okay. So, are we done now?”</p><p>“I suppose we can be,” Lucretia sighed. “I have another meeting very soon anyway. Thank you all for taking the time to be here.”</p><p>“Of course,” Davenport said, getting up from his chair.</p><p>“Any time,” Magnus said, smiling at her as he left as well.</p><p>“Wait, Magnus, Lup,” Lucretia said suddenly, stopping them in the doorway. “You all realize the dangers of your coming expedition, don’t you?”</p><p>“Yes,” Lup said seriously. </p><p>“We do,” Magnus reassured.</p><p>“You have nothing to worry about,” Davenport said earnestly. “Captain Avi is my prodigy, he’s been learning from me since he was a teenager. He will return them safely, Lucy.”</p><p>“Don’t call me that,” Lucretia snapped, though she wasn’t actually mad. “Alright, fine. Please don’t take any detours.”</p><p>“We won’t,” Lup promised. “There and back, before the north wind even has a chance to blow.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The night before Lup was going to leave, Taako stayed with her in her room. He was clearly anxious about her leaving, everyone was. When they’d told the kingdom about the expedition and that Lup was going with, many of their citizens became agitated and scared. Taako and Lucretia did their best to sooth them with the promise that they would be back in time for the Autumn Festival. They could only hope that their people would be able to keep calm until then. After the announcement, Lucretia went off to coordinate with Captain Avi and his crew, and the twins went about their business. Lup met with Barry in town, they had lunch and she told him she would come back safely. He promised not to wait up, that he would do his best to be a model for the other citizens. Once night fell, Lup had gone straight to bed to rest up for the trip. A hesitant knock at her door made her sit up in bed, wide awake.</p><p>“Who is it?” she asked, pushing her covers off and stepping out of bed.</p><p>“… It’s me,” Taako said quietly. “Can I come in?”</p><p>“Of course,” Lup said, rushing to open the door and let him in. When she did, she couldn’t help but give a sympathetic look at the sight of her brother’s worried face. </p><p>“I’m sorry to keep you up, I just…” Taako shifted on his feet. “I’m… I thought maybe we could…”</p><p>“Sleep in each others beds like we did when we were kids?” Lup supplied, pulling him into the room and quietly shutting the door behind him.</p><p>“Kind of,” Taako chuckled. “I’m just worried.”</p><p>“Can’t imagine why,” Lup said jokingly, but felt bad when she saw Taako’s face again. “Captain Avi is Davenport’s star pupil, I met with him yesterday, he seems like a highly competent captain.”</p><p>“I’m sure he is,” Taako sighed. He sat on the edge of her bed, hands folded in his lap. “I’m just… I can’t help but feel like this is a bad idea.”</p><p>“Why?” Lup asked. She sat on the bed too, pulling her legs up under her to face him. “Because you’re scared something will happen?”</p><p>“No, actually… Because I feel like I’m the one who needs to be going… Or at least going with.” Taako sighed again, laying back on the bed and staring up at the canopy. “It feels like we should be going together.”</p><p>“Well, maybe we can after we figure out what it is,” Lup offered, laying down on her stomach next to him. “Maybe it’s a magical glacier! That would be fun to visit, don’t you think?”</p><p>“If that’s what it is.” Taako didn’t look at her, still staring up with his eyebrows drawn, frowning.</p><p>Lup watched him for a while. She had to find a way to reassure him somehow, otherwise the kingdom would be able to tell their king was just as worried as they were. She pushed herself up and shuffled off the bed toward the window. “Hey, come here.”</p><p>“What? Why?” Taako watched her upside down from the bed.</p><p>“Just come here!” Lup said, in mocking exasperation. </p><p>Taako got up and walked to the window, pulling a blanket off of one of Lup’s chairs to pull around his shoulders. Lup threw the window open, letting the cold night air blow in. Lup shivered, Taako did not. He moved the blanket from his shoulders to hers.</p><p>“Look out there,” Lup said, pointing to the stars. They were bright and numerous, just like every night. “If you ever miss me while we’re gone, just look up at the stars at night. I’ll be looking at them too, so think of me when you do.”</p><p>Taako stared at the stars, smiling slightly. He’d always loved them, wanted to study them if he hadn’t had to be king. Knowing that somehow Lup knew that filled his heart to the brim. He turned to her, smiling. “Okay.”</p><p>Lup hugged him tight and looked up at the stars with him. They watched the stars until they were too tired to, then they crawled into Lup’s bed together and snuggled under the covers.</p><p>“Hey, Taako,” Lup whispered, yawning.</p><p>“Hm?” he hummed back, already half asleep.</p><p>“You’ll always have me,” she promised, squeezing him. “Always.”</p><p>“Back at you,” he muttered, pulling her closer.</p><p>As they fell asleep, so did the kingdom. Their fears and anxieties were put aside for now, children tucked their dolls into bed with them and mothers and fathers read stories and put out candles. At the embassy, Kravitz slipped into bed and took a deep breath, once again admiring the way Arendelle’s air felt in his lungs. Lucretia stayed up a bit later than everyone else, as usual. She had work to finish and documents to prepare for tomorrow. Davenport sat with her in her office and shared a coffee with her as she worked. They were both weary of letting Lup go on this mission on her own. Lucretia only felt better after Magnus offered to accompany her there. Merle had tried to go too, but he was needed here. As the only Royal Physician, he had to be ready if the king were to get hurt. Eventually, even Lucretia couldn’t put off sleeping, and she and Davenport went to bed in their respective rooms. The night ended as quietly as any other. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Taako stood on the docks to see his sister off. Half the kingdom was there with him. It was early, so many of the families with young children weren’t there, which was fine. Taako figured it was better that way, children were known to cry when they got sad or scared, and their princess leaving was definitely something that qualified as sad and or scary.</p><p>“We’ll be alright,” Lup said, holding Taako’s hands. Behind her, Captain Avi was doing last checks with the crew on the ship. “It’s two weeks there and back. Should be smooth sailing, since it’s still warm enough that the water hasn’t frozen yet.”</p><p>“I trust Captain Avi and his crew,” Taako said, mostly trying to reassure himself. He squeezed Lup’s hands. “Do what he tells you, don’t do anything dangerous.”</p><p>“Please, I know I can get into trouble, but I promise I’m not stupid enough to, I don’t know, try to drive the ship myself!” Lup laughed, pulling him in for a hug. “Two weeks.”</p><p>“Two weeks,” Taako said, nodding. He hugged her back just as tight. When he let her go, he sighed. “I’ll be looking at the stars every night.”</p><p>“Me too,” Lup promised.</p><p>“Princess,” Captain Avi called from the ship. “The ship is ready to set sail whenever you are, ma’am.”</p><p>“Thank you, Captain!” Lup called back, waving to him. She turned back to Taako with a reassuring smile. “Show time!”</p><p>“I guess so,” Taako chuckled, stepping back as she turned around.</p><p>From the ship, Lup leaned over the side to wave to the kingdom. The people waved back somewhat hesitantly. Lucretia and Kravitz were waiting at the palace. The citizens had been invited for a grand breakfast to celebrate the expedition and to wish for their safe return and Lucretia and Kravitz were hosting it.</p><p>Taako waited to watch the ship until he couldn’t see Lup’s face anymore before turning to follow everyone to the palace. The anxiety in his chest caused little flurries of snow to float around him. He took a moment to stop and think about his sister’s bright smile and warm hands, and the flurries dissipated. Sighing, he stepped into the palace.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The ship creaked around her as she lay in bed. It had nearly been a week, they were close to the glaciers. It got colder every day, adding to the naturally cold winds on the sea. Lup turned over in her bed to look out the window at the stars. She’d kept her promise, every night she looked up at them and thought of her brother. She would solve this mystery for him and return with good news, she told herself this every night. </p><p>Getting used to the ship was difficult at first. She basically felt dizzy all the time, had to lay down a lot, and could hardly eat for the first few days. After a while, though, she started getting used to it. She assumed that by the end of the trip she wouldn’t even notice it, just in time to get back on firm land. Even now, she was slightly thrown off by how the lantern by her bed swayed. </p><p>She sighed and sat up, pushing her covers off her. She stepped into her slippers and pulled her blanket up around her shoulders, walking to the door. It creaked as she pushed it open to peer into the small hallway. She snuck through to the stairs that led to the top deck. Once there, she took a deep breath of the fresh ocean air. A few times while on this trip, she thought of her parents and how this was the last experience they’d ever had. Surprisingly, this didn’t make her very sad. Everything about the ocean and the night sky this far north was beautiful. </p><p>“Princess?” Captain Avi called quietly, startling her. She spun around and saw him in the doorway with a lantern in one hand. “Are you alright?”</p><p>“Oh! Yes, sorry!” Lup said quickly. “I just… I couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d get some fresh air.”</p><p>“Mind if I join you?” he asked, walking out to stand next to her at the edge of the deck. He leaned on the railing with her.</p><p>“We’re close, right?” Lup asked, looking toward where they were headed. Small bits of ice were floating in the water, less than they had expected there to be. Avi said it was likely a sign that it was getting colder sooner than they’d expected it to. </p><p>“We are,” Avi said, nodding. “I think by tomorrow we will find what we’re looking for.”</p><p>“I’d love to investigate the woods on our way back,” Lup said, then remembered they weren’t allowed to take detours. “Well, another time, I mean.”</p><p>Avi chuckled. “It’s on our list of placed to investigate. If it’s safe, we would look into expanding Arendelle even further north.”</p><p>“Really?” Lup asked in wonder. Expanding the kingdom… What an idea, she thought. What would that look like? New buildings, more people, taking more trips north…</p><p>“We should really get to sleep, Your Highness,” Avi said. “Can’t have either of us catching colds before we get there.”</p><p>“I guess you’re right,” she sighed, pushing off from the railing. “But in my defense, I did bring a blanket.”</p><p>“I suppose you’re right,” Avi laughed. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Planning for the Autumn Festival was going smoothly. Taako was overseeing the general stuff, Lucretia was doing the specific planning, and Kravitz was working directly with the people for the first time. He was terrified, but they all were so welcoming and willing to help him with just about anything. The palace’s best chefs were planning the food for the festival. </p><p>Taako decided to take the day off from planning the festival. It was about a week after Lup had left, so they were probably close to or at the glaciers by now. He tried not to think about it as he took a walk through the kingdom’s streets. Soon, he found himself walking toward the countryside where the embassy stood tall. From the path he was walking up he could see into the window of the office on the second floor, and saw Kravitz working at his desk. Kravitz noticed him and got up quickly from his desk, promptly running down the stairs to be there to open the door for him.</p><p>“Your Highness!” Kravitz called, surprised and happy to see him visiting. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”</p><p>“Boredom, if I’m honest,” Taako answered, smiling at him. He stepped up the front stairs and walked into the building. The inside was beautifully decorated, supposedly decorated like the palace in Goodcastle. There was white and gold everywhere, very different from Arendelle’s green and purple colors of the palace. A gorgeous crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling over them, with white molded designs swirling around it. The walls were decorated with paintings, much like the Arendellean palace. The carpet was white and gold too, lavish designs that curled and swirled toward the staircase.</p><p>“Well, allow me to entertain you, then,” Kravitz said, shutting the door behind them. “Shall I call for tea?”</p><p>“Oh, please,” Taako said with a smile. “I’d love some.”</p><p>“Were you cold on your walk here?” Kravitz asked, waving to a nearby butler who nodded and walked off.</p><p>“No, I don’t mind the cold at all,” Taako said, sitting on one of the couches in the large front room. </p><p>“That’s good.” Kravitz sat across from him. When another butler came and put a tray of tea between them on the table, Kravitz held out Taako’s cup for him to take. Taako took the cup with a smile. So chivalrous…</p><p>“What have you been working on today?” he asked, sipping his tea.</p><p>“The festival, planning for the nighttime activities,” Kravitz answered, picking up his own cup. “There were some people who suggested lanterns, I was trying to find something interesting to do with them.”</p><p>Taako hummed in acknowledgment. “People love the look of lanterns at night. Maybe you could hang them from the houses?”</p><p>“That’s a good idea,” Kravitz said thoughtfully. “I was thinking of floating some on the fjord.”</p><p>“Oh, that would look beautiful,” Taako said instantly, imagining it. “Like fallen stars floating in the waters…”</p><p>“My, how poetic,” Kravitz teased.</p><p>“True though,” Taako snapped back, smiling. </p><p>Kravitz smiled too, taking a sip of his tea. Their new silence lasted a short while. Kravitz watched the trees outside and loved the way the sun filtered through the leaves. Taako watched his face as he did so, smiling to himself at how taken he already was with Arendelle. He found himself looking down at his tea and thinking of Lup, frowning at his reflection and how little he looked like Lup nowadays. He could tell, even in his tea, how much being king had aged him.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Kravitz asked. Taako looked up and saw his concerned face, finding it endearing as usual.</p><p>“I’m worried about my sister,” Taako said with a sigh. He figured it would do him better to just get the anxiety off his chest. “They should be far enough north by now. I can only imagine what they’ve found.”</p><p>“They will return safely,” Kravitz said, trying to reassure him.</p><p>“I’m sure,” Taako responded, but he was unconvinced. “I hope it’s nothing but a normal glacier. I hope they find nothing of value. I hope it was all a waste.”</p><p>“What?” Kravitz looked more concerned now. </p><p>“Because, then at least it will have been an uneventful trip!” Taako said, trying to justify himself. “The alternative is… What if it isn’t just a normal glacier? What if it is somehow connected to me? What if I should’ve been the one to investigate it because it isn’t safe for someone without powers?”</p><p>Kravitz looked conflicted, as if he was just now thinking of these things too and wrestling with the implications. Then, he seemed to give up the endeavor, sighing and sitting back in his chair. “Well, we can’t worry ourselves with ‘what if’s. What’s done is done, they’re already there by now, as you’ve said. All we can do is hope for their safe return.”</p><p>Taako looked at him, his anxiety clear on his face. He was bouncing his leg from his nerves.</p><p>“Listen, why don’t we go into town and speak with the craftsman of the lanterns for the festival,” Kravitz offered, standing up suddenly. “You deserve a distraction.”</p><p>Taako stayed sitting for a moment longer, then downed his tea and stood up. “Fine, but only because I think I’ve just frozen your couch.”</p><p>Kravitz shrugged and held out his arm for Taako to take. “It’s waterproof.”</p><p>That earned a laugh as Taako took his arm and they walked toward the door.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>This was it. This was the source of Taako’s magic. Lup had the thought instantly when she first saw the glacier. She had come running up to the main deck of the ship when the crew had called it out. As soon as she saw the dazzling turquoise blue, shimmering like glitter and radiating out from the glacier underwater, she knew. This was it. It had to be.</p><p>“My god,” Captain Avi breathed, running to see it as well. “That’s-”</p><p>“Yeah,” Lup said, unable to stop staring at it. The top of the glacier was covered in white ice, not unlike the ice that manifested when Taako was overwhelmed with emotion. The face of the glacier was bright turquoise blue, beckoning them closer. “How do we get close to it?”</p><p>“The lifeboats,” Avi said, directing her to one of them. “Are you wanting to go with to investigate it up close?”</p><p>“Of course,” Lup said, taking a coat from one of the crew members who offered it. It was extremely cold this far north, really no matter the season. “If anyone other than Taako knows the most about his magic, it’s me.”</p><p>“Alright, fine. Magnus will go with you, then.” Avi waved Magnus over and got him a coat. “Just break off some samples and we’ll examine them here first, before deciding if we want to take a bigger sample with us back to Arendelle.”</p><p>“Yes, sir,” Lup said, half-jokingly. She took her crimson fur-lined cloak from another crew member and pulled it around her shoulders. She let Magnus carefully lift her into the lifeboat after him, then looked up at the captain and nodded. “Back soon.”</p><p>She, Magnus, and one other crew member, Robbie, paddled their way toward the glacier. As Robbie carefully dodged the loose ice floating around them, Lup watched in awe as the glacier seemed to grow taller and taller as they got closer, until it was towering over them like a fortress. There was a shore, thankfully, that they could run aground on. As soon as they did, Lup hopped out into the absolutely freezing cold water. Magnus followed after her, and Robbie stayed dutifully in the boat.</p><p>Her first step toward the glacier felt… meaningful. As if it was telling her something… She felt as thought it was… glad she was there? What an odd feeling to have. Magnus didn’t seem to be having this experience, only taken aback by the incredible display of nature in front of them. Lup thought she could see lights moving in the ice, thought perhaps that was just her mind on the fritz from being on a ship for so long.</p><p>“Shall we break some pieces off?” Magnus asked, holding out a small ice pick for her to take.</p><p>“Sure,” she responded, still distracted by some other strange messages that were trying to form in her brain.</p><p>Magnus took the first swing, and Lup felt it. The pick stuck into the ice, throwing shards in all directions, and Lup felt the splintering in her chest. She jolted and dropped her pick, holding her chest in confusion. </p><p>“Magnus, stop!” she called.</p><p>Magnus stopped on his second swing, turning to her in surprise. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“I-I don’t know… I… Felt something.” She examined the ice again, looking for a change in the color or something. She found the lights moving again, and was less sure it was a trick of the eye this time. “I… I may be connected to this glacier, too.”</p><p>“Felt something…” Magnus whispered, looking at the ice. He seemed to decide something then. “We should take samples from the ice that’s already broken off, then. If you and the king are connected to this, we can’t hurt it.”</p><p>Lup stared at her reflection in the ice, warbled and broken up. What did this mean? It made sense for Taako to be connected to this, but her? She had no powers! Or… Did she? The event of the Great Thaw stuck in her mind, remembering the feeling of Taako’s magic against her palm before warming up his instead. Did she have magic?</p><p>“We should go back,” Magnus said, glancing at the glacier again.</p><p>“I want to see what’s on top,” Lup said without thinking. </p><p>“What? Why?”</p><p>“To be thorough,” Lup said. Truthfully, she had no idea where that request had come from. She assumed it had come from the glacier. </p><p>“But…” Magnus started to argue, glancing at Robbie waiting in the boat. But then he looked back at Lup, and her determined stare broke him. “…Fine, but not for too long.”</p><p>Lup climbed onto his back after he picked up her dropped pick, readying them to climb the side of the glacier. Lup could tell the crew and the captain were concerned and confused about their choice, but she knew she had to get up there for some reason. It was… It was like the glacier was calling her. What would Taako have experienced, she wondered, if he were the one here right now?</p><p>When Magnus finally made it to the top, Lup quickly climbed off his back and helped him up. They both stared at the vast expanse of uneven white ice, dipping and curving like- well, like water. Just frozen water. Lup looked for what was calling her, took a few unsteady steps across the ice to get closer to it. She followed it like a dowsing rod until she was right on top of it.</p><p>“Princess, we should head back,” Magnus said wearily, clearly realizing how dangerous it was to be up here.</p><p>Lup turned around to agree with him, to go back with him, to leave this strange, magical place to return to her brother and tell him all about this enchanting glacier. But she heard a loud sound, something like a deep rumbling that morphed into a loud cracking that turned into a loud burst of air from below them. Freezing cold air blew into her face and she stumbled back, slipping on an uneven spot of ice and falling. She expected hitting the ice to hurt. Or, more specifically, she expected to hit the ice at all. But she didn’t. She barely had time to register that the area around her was dark, that she was still falling, before she hit ice cold water and passed out.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Magnus!” Captain Avi shouted, slapping him again and finally waking him this time.</p><p>“Wh-what?” Magnus said, shaking his head and opening his eyes. He was soaking wet and freezing cold.</p><p>“What were you doing up there?!” Avi demanded. He was soaking wet too. Why were they-?</p><p>Thunder crashed and shocked Magnus fully awake. He sat up and took in the scene around him. The crew was rushing from one station to another, all frantic and apparently caught off guard. It was also pouring rain. The wind whipped around them, tugging the sails in a way that made Magnus nervous of their integrity.</p><p>“Answer me, Mags,” Avi said, gentler now. “Why were you on top of the glacier?”</p><p>“I-” Magnus tried to remember. He had been up there with… No, he’d been up there alone. Why had he done that? He felt the words come out before he knew what they meant. “T-to be thorough.”</p><p>“Well, you went and slipped off after that earthquake,” Avi said, pulling him to stand up. “You were passed out in the water, Robbie had to swim to save you. Thankfully you seem alright otherwise.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Magnus said, and his heart pulled painfully in a way he didn’t understand. “I-I’m so sorry…”</p><p>“For what?” Avi asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You were doing your job, we all were.”</p><p>Magnus sighed, nodding. He didn’t understand why he felt so sad.</p><p>“Now we have to pray we can escape this storm,” Avi grumbled, walking with him to the back of the ship to help steer them. “Came out of nowhere almost as soon as the earthquake hit.”</p><p>“How can I help, sir?” Magnus asked, standing at attention, trying to shake off the prior events.</p><p>“Go try to rest, or at least get dry and warm for now,” Avi said, smiling at him. “Can’t have a security officer frozen to the bone in this rain.”</p><p>Magnus nodded, shoulders slumping. </p><p>He walked back to the lower decks where his room was. He suddenly felt mighty useless. As if he’d been supposed to keep someone safe… Surely it was Captain Avi, surely he was just still frazzled by falling off the glacier. He changed clothes and let himself rest in bed, warming up by a lantern. The sound of the crashing waves and roaring rain outside kept him awake, but he thought it was fitting. Such chaos, he thought. It felt as though nature was fighting itself.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The day the ship came back, Taako congratulated them on their mission publicly. The kingdom celebrated their return in conjunction with the Autumn Festival. After the commencement speech Taako gave, he called the crew to a private meeting to go over their findings. </p><p>When they told him of the glacier, how it seemed to glow with his same magic, he was struck with what this may mean. What if it was the source? Captain Avi explained that they were unable to return with samples because of a sudden earthquake and storm that erupted out of nowhere. Taako was just relieved they made it back. Ever since his family died overseas, the whole kingdom had been weary of ships. But their successful mission was a step in the right direction, as Lucretia had pointed out when they had planned it. The kingdom saw their navy return safely, and if that kept happening their people might be able to participate in the tourism of other countries across the ocean.</p><p>At the end of the first day of the Autumn Festival, Taako sat in his room on his windowsill, staring at the stars. Every time he did, he thought of his sister. When she’d left with their parents, she had told him to think of her when he looked at them, that she would be doing the same. That was a long time ago. She’d died on that trip with their parents, leaving him everything and completely alone. It hadn’t been easy, he’d tried to hide his powers and gotten found out. The details of that were already fuzzy to him, but someone had tried to kill him and he was able to use his powers to stop them and save Arendelle from being taken over. When he thought of his sister, he was able to thaw his ice, that he remembered. Remembering her face was like feeling the warmth of a fireplace.</p><p>He made sure to look up at the stars every night and think of his sister, knowing she was somewhere up there looking down at him too. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wait, what?! What's going on?! What will become of the Forgotten Sister?! What are the ramifications of these events?! What does ramifications even really mean??!!! Find out, next time!<br/>But seriously, what do you think so far? Like? Dislike? Maybe you already read this and skipped this chapter because I told you nothing was different? If so, fair. Leave a comment if you feel so inclined, and I hope you continue to enjoy reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Autumn Festival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two years after the Northern Storm forced Avi and his crew back to Arendelle, the kingdom throws its annual Autumn Festival.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let's do the time skip....... For the first time........<br/>New content!! Please enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Autumn Festival was in full swing. The whole kingdom had come together to put together the week-long festival. Every year brought a handful of new traditions to the festival as the kingdom grew. The lanterns that lined the eaves of the houses and businesses now always floated on the fjord and the river that flowed down from the mountains, thanks to Kravitz’s idea from two years ago. It was also now commonplace for there to be crafting circles to make crowns for children and cut paper into Autumn leaves to be stuck along the stone walls of the castle. All these new traditions had forced the two-day festival into lasting a week. Taako used to hold a feast in the palace, but the size of the kingdom was making it hard to accomplish at this point, so that too had to start stretching into multiple days of feasts. Lucretia reminded him that it was a sign of the kingdom’s prosperity, which he understood, but if they didn’t start making some hard and fast rules, this festival might end up lasting a whole month one day. Hell, Candlenights already did for many members of the kingdom.</p>
<p>This year was just like the last two; the same traditions were lined up easily, and then more were gathered from the kingdom via surveys. Kravitz had insisted on conducting these surveys, since the people trusted him to be the one to keep track of the minute details of the festival at this point. Taako didn’t object. He loved seeing how excited Kravitz always got for the festival. Even the days after it had ended, Kravitz would be adding things to the list for next year. Autumn was clearly his favorite time of year.</p>
<p>On this day, the third of the festival, Taako was taking a break from spending time with the guests getting ready for the feast tonight. He was on one of the many balconies of the palace, leaning on the railing and looking out at the changing leaves. He sighed, thinking about how, in just a few months, he would have to spend another birthday alone. Like he had since his family perished at sea. He shook his head, knocking the memory away. Today was a happy day, and it wasn’t about him. It was about the people and how prosperous they’d been and still were. As he went to turn away and go back inside, he heard something. A voice singing in the distance. He spun back around to look and see if he could tell where it came from. It was quiet.</p>
<p>“Your Highness,” Kravitz said from behind him, startling him. He accidentally shot a blast of ice at the railing, covering it.</p>
<p>“Oh!” Taako gasped. He looked down at where his hands were now stuck in the ice he’d made. He pulled them free from the railing and turned around. “You scared me.”</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Kravitz chuckled. “I was just coming to get you, Lucretia is looking for you.”</p>
<p>“Oh, of course she is,” Taako sighed. “I’m coming.”</p>
<p>As they both went to go inside, Taako heard the voice again, calling out with four distinct notes. He spun around again, looking out onto the fjord.</p>
<p>“Did you hear that?” he asked, scanning the horizon.</p>
<p>“… Hear what?” Kravitz asked, eyeing him with concern.</p>
<p>Taako turned back around and forced himself to look normal. “Nothing, nevermind. Let’s go find Lucy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The rest of the day was spent following Lucretia around to different events around town. One of the first was a ribbon-cutting for a new shop. Many citizens timed the openings of their shops or seasonal sales with the Autumn Festival because it promised much more foot traffic than any other time of the year. Plus, it was good for people to buy whatever they needed for the winter, and for businesses to build up their accounts for when they needed to be spent during the winter. Taako and Lucretia both cut the ribbon of a new shop together and shook hands with the owner, then they were off to the next event.</p>
<p>They were making their way further up the hills and eventually finished their long line of events at the top of the river that ran through town, where they were going to light lanterns to float down the river. Kravitz was there waiting for them, lanterns at the ready.</p>
<p>“Your Highness, Madam Adviser,” Kravitz greeted, bowing slightly.</p>
<p>“Duke Wells,” Lucretia greeted back, nodding more than really bowing. The evening sun cast soft shadows across the hills and the river, the perfect time to light lanterns and float them down. Once they reached the fjord, the sun would be down and they could light even more lanterns from the docks, where they would float out and twinkle in the night like the reflections of the stars. At the very edge of the fjord they would be collected carefully by the ships waiting there and returned to the palace. “Is everything ready?”</p>
<p>“Of course, Madam Adviser,” Kravitz said with a smile. “Shall we?”</p>
<p>“We shall,” Taako said, reaching to take the lantern held out for him.</p>
<p>Just as they began to start the ceremony, a small boy ran from the crowd behind them, carrying a lantern at arm’s length.</p>
<p>“Me first!” he shouted, running at them at full speed.</p>
<p>“Wait!” a woman called from the back of the crowd, clearly his mother. “Honey, don’t-!”</p>
<p>“Stop!” Lucretia said, just as the boy was running right off the riverside into the water.</p>
<p>Before Taako could think, he frantically reached out a hand, not to grab the boy, but to use his powers to create something for him to land on. As quickly as he shot out a hand, a blast of ice formed a small boat under the boy. The boy yelped in surprise, but then sat up in confusion. Taako grabbed the edge of the boat to keep it from floating downstream and pulled it back to the edge of the river.</p>
<p>“Careful,” Taako said, hand shaking from adrenaline. “You’ve gotta look where you’re running, little man, hold your lantern by the top next time.”</p>
<p>The boy stared up at him, eyes wide, like he just realized that he king had saved him. He nodded slowly, still shocked.</p>
<p>“Benjamin!” the boy’s mother shouted, rushing over to them. “You scared your mother half to death!”</p>
<p>“S-sorry, mama,” the boy said, instantly looking down. “I was so excited to float my lantern…”</p>
<p>“You’ve gone and made the king have to save you,” she muttered, clearly flustered and embarrassed by her child.</p>
<p>“It’s alright,” Taako said, helping the boy out of the small boat and dissolving it. “The most important thing is that he’s safe. And so’s your lantern, you can still float it with us!”</p>
<p>The boy’s face lit up at that, and he stood tall next to his mother. She pulled him back a little bit, explaining why he couldn’t go first, and Taako shrugged off the last bit of anxiety from the encounter. He turned back to Kravitz, who still looked a bit stunned, and took his lantern.</p>
<p>The citizens around them all started lighting their own candles as soon as Taako took his special lantern, already lit for him. Once just about everyone had their lanterns ready, Taako knelt down and gently floated his off into the river. It immediately got pulled along the gentle current and slowly picked up speed. The citizens around him followed his lead, putting their lanterns in the water and then standing back to watch them float lazily down the river. The little boy shouted in excitement when he floated his, running to follow it. His mother grabbed his hand and kept him a safe distance from the river. Near where Taako stood watching the beautiful lights on the water, group of girls exclaimed their excitement to each other, all looking to be in their teens. Taako smiled to himself at their giddiness, but one of them noticed and whispered to her friends, who all turned to smile sheepishly at him.</p>
<p>“Happy festivities,” he said, brushing off the growing feeling of awkwardness in favor of channeling his father’s kingly attitude. </p>
<p>“Happy festivities, Your Highness!” the first girl said back, bowing and giving him her best and clearly most practiced ladylike smile.</p>
<p>“Well, time to head to the docks,” Lucretia said, oblivious to the interaction. “Last thing on the list, then I promise you can rest your feet.”</p>
<p>“It’s no bother,” Taako said, turning to her. “I’ve done much harder work before.”</p>
<p>“However true, I myself can feel I’ll be sore tomorrow,” she said with a sigh, waving for Kravitz to follow them. </p>
<p>“Perhaps you should take tomorrow off?” Taako offered, folding his hands behind his back as they walked along the path.</p>
<p>“Oh that’s a wonderful idea, you’ve been working so hard, Madam Adviser,” Kravitz added, looking sympathetic. “You certainly have earned a break to enjoy the festival for yourself.”</p>
<p>“I can’t, there is still much to keep track of,” she protested, shaking her head. She still held herself tall, despite the aching in her feet and the knot in her shoulder from her heavy bag filled with important documents. </p>
<p>“So much that Davenport couldn’t keep track of it for you for a day?” Taako asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or Kravitz? Or even me?”</p>
<p>“You seem to be vastly underestimating the amount of traditions you’ve allowed onto the list this year,” she snapped, then realized what she’d done and sighed, shoulders slumping down. “I’m sorry, maybe you’re right…”</p>
<p>“No, you’re definitely correct in my underestimation,” Taako said, causing Kravitz to laugh. “But if me and Davenport and Kravitz work together, we could handle it for you for a day.”</p>
<p>Lucretia sighed again, then rolled her shoulders and winced, the pain from her heavy bag finally coming through. Her feet ached, her shoulder ached, and for any longer trying to see through the growing darkness, so would her head. “Alright, fine. I’ll take tomorrow off to rest, but only tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“We’ll see about that,” Taako said, grinning mischievously and taking her arm. “Now that you’ve relinquished control, you can’t return until you are fully rested and back in top shape, and I do mean fully.”</p>
<p>“Taako, I can’t just-”</p>
<p>“You can, and you will,” he said, waving a hand to shush her. “Let’s go float these lanterns and have some tea.”</p>
<p>She huffed and pouted, but didn’t protest, thankfully. </p>
<p>They kept making their way to the docks, and slowly swaths of citizens joined their group until there was a parade of people behind them, all walking with lanterns in hand. Kravitz pealed off from their group in the front to make sure everyone was doing alright and that they all had lanterns, making sure to wave to the guards for more lanterns when he noticed some didn’t have any. </p>
<p>They were almost there when they heard a shout from somewhere in the square. When Taako looked, there was a man running from what looked like a runaway lumber cart, the stopper broken and hanging off the front of it. Some people shouted and gasped, but they were all too far away to do anything as the man ran slower than the cart was rolling. Taako again had no time to think, only acting upon his instinct. He stepped forward, his commanding step sending a wave of ice across the stones toward the running man. When it reached him, Taako threw his hand out to the side and it went around where the man now stood in terror. A wall of ice built itself between the man and the cart, stopping it in its tracks. The man, a stocky fellow with crooked glasses, fell to the ground in exhaustion. </p>
<p>“Are you alright?!” Lucretia asked, running to the man.</p>
<p>“Y-yeah,” the guy said shakily, clearing his throat. His voice was gruff and familiar to Taako in a way he couldn’t place. The man looked up at her, then to Taako. “Thank you, Your Highness.”</p>
<p>“You aren’t hurt, are you?” Taako asked, walking over to them. </p>
<p>“N-no, I’m alright,” he said, looking down. “Damn thing needed replaced anyway, I should’ve done it when I noticed it was cracked…”</p>
<p>“As long as you’re alright,” Taako said with a sigh. This lazy day was turning out to have far too much excitement for him.</p>
<p>They gathered their wits and Taako melted the ice. With a last check of the man, Taako turned back to the direction of the docks.</p>
<p>When they got there, all drama and excitement over with for now, Taako walked to the end of the dock alone up to Captain Davenport. </p>
<p>“Ready?” Davenport asked, holding up another royal lantern.</p>
<p>“Hell yeah,” Taako responded, taking the lantern.</p>
<p>He stepped to the edge of the dock, kneeling down and reaching to hold the lantern by the edge of its top to carefully place in it the water of the fjord. He stood to watch it float away, feeling melancholy as it went out further and further.</p>
<p>Behind him, the citizens started letting their own lanterns float across the fjord. Taako turned to watch theirs float too, but was distracted by that voice again. It sang four notes like it had before, and Taako turned to try and see where it was coming from. He turned north and heard it again, but this time it sang seven notes, as if he was facing it now.</p>
<p>“Are you alright, sir?” Davenport asked, looking up at him slightly concerned. </p>
<p>“F-fine,” Taako said, pulling himself back to the present moment. </p>
<p>“Did you hear something?” Davenport looked to where he’d been watching before.</p>
<p>“Nope, nothing,” Taako reassured. “Let’s get back to the castle, I need some tea and to rest my feet.” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We're still setting stuff up, but I bet you can guess where this is going. Already better than the movie, right? I hope so, I worked very hard on this. I hope you enjoyed reading! Leave a comment if you feel like it, tell me what you think so far! <br/>The next chapter will be posted tomorrow, January 10th! I figure I'll tell you at the end of each chapter when the next will go up, since I don't have a schedule this time. Happy reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Into the Unknown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A familiar voice calls for him. The candles light themselves.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yay, second update this week! Let me know what you think about how I've changed the story so far, I'm curious to hear people's thoughts! Enjoy!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sitting in one of the many lounge rooms in the palace, in front of a crackling fireplace, Taako sat curled up on the couch with a hot cup of tea in his hands, wrapped in many blankets. Next to him, Lucretia sat resting her feet on the low table in front of the couch. On the other end of the couch, Kravitz sat, almost mirroring Taako, curled up with hot tea. Across from them, Davenport was pacing and telling stories from the many sea voyages he’d been on before becoming a captain under Taako’s father.</p><p>Taako yawned and then drank the rest of his tea. As he reached to set the empty cup down on the table, he heard the voice again. It sang the four notes and Taako almost dropped his teacup, barely catching it before it hit the table.</p><p>“Whoa, careful,” Davenport laughed, noticing his fumbling. “I haven’t even gotten to the surprising part yet!”</p><p>“S-sorry,” Taako said, standing up. “Tired. I think I’ll turn in.”</p><p>“Are you okay?” Kravitz asked, sitting up.</p><p>“I’m fine,” Taako assured, waving a hand. He tugged the blanket around his shoulders and stepped toward the door. “Just tired.”</p><p>No one else protested as he left, and just as he shut the door he heard the voice again.</p><p>“I can hear you,” he whispered, glancing around. “But I won’t do it, I won’t leave.”</p><p>He walked down the hall toward his room. The voice called again.</p><p>“You’re not taking me away from this, from them,” he whispered to the voice. “Everyone I love that’s left is here, there’s no reason for me to follow you, I fucking wont!”</p><p>He was startled by a maid coming out of one of the rooms. He hoped she hadn’t heard him talking to no one like a crazy person. Once she was gone, the voice called again.</p><p>“I’ve had my adventure,” he whispered angrily, grabbing his doorknob forcefully. “I’m not doing it.”</p><p>He entered his room and tossed the blanket on his bed, starting to pace the room.</p><p>“You’re not a voice, you’re just my ears ringing,” he whispered, and gods he must look crazy. “I’m not following you, I’m not going to risk-!”</p><p>As he spoke, the doors to his balcony flew open, cold air bursting into the room along with four small orange lights. The lights, small flames he realized, floated to the candles around the room, lighting them as well as the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Taako watched them in awe before coming to his senses and rushing to slam the balcony doors shut.</p><p>He sighed and turned back to his room, now dark, seeing the door was open and that orange light was moving out into the hall. The voice called again.</p><p>“What do you want?” he asked quietly, following the light out and down the hall. “You’re keeping my awake, I need to sleep…”</p><p>The light moved to the north end of the hall, lighting a single candle by the window. </p><p>“Are you here to distract me?” he asked, the candle flickered. “Or… are you someone out there like me? Are you in trouble?”</p><p>The candle grew, then went out. Then the window above that candle flew open as his bedroom balcony doors had before. Outside he saw the streetlights filled with orange light, lighting themselves and leading through town.</p><p>Taako ran down the hall and down the stairs, pushing the large doors open and feeling the rush of the wind against his skin. He ran to the streetlights and they went out. He moved further to the next ones, those going out too.</p><p>“What are you trying to tell me?” he asked quietly. It sang back. “Do you want me to follow you?”</p><p>It sang. </p><p>“Can you show me?” he asked, holding out his hands tentatively to the streetlight. The light flickered.</p><p>As soon as he touched the cool metal, the light flared and magic flowed out like a waterfall, filling the air around him until the area of the bridge he was standing on was totally obscured. Inside this magic, he saw the small orange light bouncing around him. It made him laugh, it was almost like an excited child. He watched it until it swirled up and formed a target.</p><p>“What?” He stared at the target, confused. Tentatively, he held up a hand and shot it with a small blast of magic.</p><p>The magic caught in the target and the two swirled together, mixing until it turned a bright purple, flaring bright. It turned orange as it formed another target for him to shoot, which he did. This time it turned a light sky blue, then spun out into a tornado and dissipated.</p><p>Then the light formed something new. It took Taako a moment to realize it was sheet music, it was showing him the four notes it was singing.</p><p>“You… want me to sing too?” he asked hesitantly. </p><p>This time, when the voice sang, the notes on the sheet music lit up as each one was sung. Taako watched this and then took a breath. He was already so far in this, what the hell.</p><p>He sang the four notes and the light grew, until it was just one large flame. Then it swirled around him and dissipated the magic around them and shot off toward town.</p><p>He didn’t think this time as he ran after it, sprinting after it as it led him through town and up into the forest toward the mountains. He followed it through an unfamiliar path, stumbling over the brush in his bare feet. </p><p>“Where are you going?” he called, feeling somewhat desperate now. Whatever this was, it seemed to know who he was, it seemed like it was friendly, and it seemed like it really wanted him to follow it. He could barely see it anymore, so he called out, “Don’t leave me alone out here!”</p><p>It flared then, clearly slowing down to let him catch up. As he did, he saw a cliffside and skidded to a halt at it. Over the cliff he could see the large expanse of the forest past the plains in the distance. The light easily dropped down and seemed to beckon him to follow.</p><p>Before he could, he heard something behind him.</p><p>“Taako?!” Kravitz called from the woods. “Where did you go?! Taako!”</p><p>“I-I’m over here,” Taako called back, cringing. He’d run out of the palace in the middle of the night, people probably saw him run away. He wouldn’t be surprised if some people had gotten scared that it was a repeat of the last time that had happened.</p><p>Kravitz came through the trees and instantly looked relieved as he saw Taako. “Thank the gods! What are you doing out here?!”</p><p>Before he could answer, Kravitz had run over and hugged him tight. It was still odd, touching people, and it caught him off guard again. Kravitz was so warm, it was so distracting.</p><p>“Are you alright?” he asked, pulling back from their hug but not letting him go.</p><p>“I-I’m fine, I-” Taako heard the voice again, and he turned, pulling himself from Kravitz’s hold just as Kravitz was realizing it was probably inappropriate for him to have just hugged the King of Arendelle. Taako saw a flare of orange in the forest and felt himself pulled toward it.</p><p>“Taako, what’s going on?” Kravitz asked, reaching to grab his hand as he saw him instinctively move toward the edge of the cliff.</p><p>And then Taako remembered where he was, that he was out here, having run out barefoot into the woods, at the edge of a cliff. This must look pretty bad.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Taako said, turning back around to face him. “I guess I should explain…”</p><p>“I would greatly appreciate an explanation,” Kravitz said, pulling him away from the cliff.</p><p>Kravitz took off his jacket and draped it around Taako’s shoulders as they walked back. Apparently Kravitz, Lucretia, Davenport, <em>and</em> Magnus had all gone out to look for him, which just made his entire face turn red with embarrassment. His bare footfalls left ice tinged with pink behind him as he walked into the palace, shooing his friends away and hiding his red face.</p><p>Now came the explaining.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>After explaining what had happened, curled up on the couch with fresh tea and blankets, everyone was speechless. Taako tried to sip his tea calmly, knowing that if he acted calm they might as well. But Davenport was already pacing and Lucretia was already darting her eyes around with her hand curled under her chin, thinking. There was nothing else he could do to calm them. Magnus was the only one acting relatively calm, standing quietly by the door. Kravitz sat next to him on the couch, clearly relieved to hear he wasn’t about to throw himself off a cliff, but equally concerned about the implications of this strange magical being trying to contact Taako.</p><p>“I think I should follow it,” Taako said finally, breaking the silence.</p><p>“What?” Davenport and Lucretia said at the same time, turning to him.</p><p>“Why?” Kravitz asked, tilting his head to the side.</p><p>“It seemed like it really wanted me to?” Taako tried, then made a face. “Well, I just have this feeling…”</p><p>“I don’t trust it,” Davenport said, going back to pacing.</p><p>“I don’t think you should,” Lucretia said, now biting her thumbnail. “It seems… Very suspect…”</p><p>“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” Taako asked tiredly. Just then, the voice sang again. “Ugh, shut up!”</p><p>The others looked at him again, surprised.</p><p>“It keeps calling me!” he explained, rubbing his face. “It keeps calling, I don’t think it’ll stop until I go looking for it.”</p><p>Davenport’s sigh caught his attention, and when he looked up he saw Davenport’s soft sympathetic gaze. </p><p>“As your Naval Captain, I definitely think we could investigate it,” he started, not looking away from Taako. “But you’re saying you have to investigate personally?”</p><p>“I think so,” Taako said with a sigh of his own. “It really wants me to follow it. I’m the only one who can hear it anyway.”</p><p>Davenport hummed, finally looking back at the ground. “Well, then I guess there’s no other way around it.”</p><p>“Absolutely not,” Lucretia said firmly, turning to Davenport. “He is not going looking for this person, we don’t have anyone else to stay and act as-!”</p><p>“Lucretia,” Taako said, cutting her off with his father’s authoritative tone. “I have to find who is calling to me. I think they might be in trouble, what if they need my help?”</p><p>“The kingdom needs you!” she shouted, making everyone jump.</p><p>She seemed to realize what she’d done and stepped back, blinking a few times. Her face turned red from embarrassment and she turned away from them all to hide her face.</p><p>“… Lucretia is right,” Magnus said, finally breaking his own silence. “Someone needs to stay behind to keep the kingdom safe and calm. If you have to go, someone else has to stay.”</p><p>“It would have to be Lucretia, right?” Kravitz offered hesitantly. “She’s the only one who knows the castle inside and out, the kingdom wouldn’t run without her.”</p><p>“… I will have to stay behind,” Lucretia said quietly, still collecting herself. “I-if you really- if you really plan to follow this voice, I have to stay behind. But I can’t just run the kingdom myself, someone has to be in charge, someone to act almost as monarch while you’re gone…”</p><p>Taako huffed a sigh and sat back against the couch. There wasn’t anyone either close enough to him or high enough in ranks to take his place for this mission. He didn’t have any living siblings, he didn’t have any cousins that he knew of, no one who lived in the kingdom that could act as monarch. Unless…</p><p>“What about Merle?” Taako asked, looking to Davenport hopefully.</p><p>“Merle?” Lucretia said, turning around, startled out of her previous state.</p><p>“Yeah, he’s a close family friend who’s saved my ass more times than I can count, plus he’s the most calming person I know,” Taako said, thinking about it more. “He can be trusted to be in charge while I’m gone.”</p><p>Lucretia stared at him for a moment before looking down at the ground to think on it more. “… I suppose that wouldn’t be… that wouldn’t be a terrible idea, actually. I think I read about your father doing something similar when he was alive, putting Merle in charge for a short time…”</p><p>“Great, then the people will already trust him too!” Taako exclaimed, smiling wide. He was starting to get excited about this expedition they were sure to embark on. </p><p>“Taako, are you sure you want to do this?” Magnus asked, voice quiet. When Taako looked, he wore a sad expression. “If you go by sea…”</p><p>“Captain Davenport will keep us all safe, Mags,” Taako said, trying to be reassuring. “We’re going north, apparently, so the seas won’t be as rocky as the southern ones where the water is warmer, right Davenport?”</p><p>“Technically, yes,” Davenport said thoughtfully. “But the North Sea is notoriously choppy, especially since two years ago after we discovered the glacier.”</p><p>“Maybe this person and the glacier are connected somehow? Just like I am?” Taako said, mostly wondering aloud.</p><p>“It wouldn’t be a huge leap to assume that,” Lucretia said with a nod. “And if they are, it could be very important to find out who they are.”</p><p>Magnus seemed only slightly convinced, but stayed quiet nonetheless. Kravitz too, unknown to Taako, shared a look of dread and concern. This could end badly, what if the person was tricking Taako into trusting them? What if this was a trap? But he would have people around him to keep him safe, so they would have to trust Taako for now.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope Taako's lines while following the lights wasn't too awkward, I wanted to use as many actual lines as I could from that sequence. What do you think so far? Do you like it? Excited for more? Let me know!<br/>Next chapter will go up on Friday, the 15th of January! Thank you so much for reading, I love and appreciate every single reader!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Lost in the Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A nervous country sees their king off on a journey of incomprehensible importance. No one knows what it really is, not even Taako.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Update day! Hope the wait wasn't too long! Did anyone else watch the first two episodes of Wandavision today? I'm so impatient for the next episodes!<br/>Today's update is aaaaccttuaaalllyy..... TWO CHAPTERS!! The main reason is because I want people to stay engaged with the story, so I want to give them more to read! Also, I'm thinking of weekly updates for this for now, because I'm sooooo close to finishing it. I have two chapters left to write and one if those is about a fourth done right now. The other reason is because the second chapter I'm posting today is shorter than any of the other chapters and I didn't want people to be disappointed with a short chapter.<br/>With all that said, please enjoy reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With everything in place, and after the Autumn Festival finally ended, Taako boarded the largest ship in the Royal Navy. He and Captain Davenport stood on the deck to wave to the people of Arendelle. The people’s faces were stricken with worry, but Merle kept a huge smile on his face to help calm them. He was good at the kind of relentless optimism that they needed right now. Lucretia stood by Merle on the docks and waved calmly, files and papers tucked under her arm. She was probably impatient to get back to work, Taako assumed.</p><p>As they started to move away from the docks, Taako felt anxiety spike in his chest. Flurries of snow floated around him and he walked away from the railing of the deck, trying to make sure the people couldn’t see his sudden fear. His parents and sister had died on the family’s last trip overseas. Obviously he was the safest he could be, with Davenport as captain, Magnus acting as personal security, and of course his powers. But still, the anxiety was still there.</p><p>He let Davenport lead him to the Royal Suite on the ship. There, Taako sat on the couch and tried to calm himself down. Davenport left to, you know, act as captain. Magnus stood outside the doors. Kravitz, ever the one to surprise, walked right past Magnus into the room. </p><p>“Are you alright?” he asked, walking over to sit next to him. “I saw you get a little worked up there, are you feeling alright?”</p><p>“J-just-” Taako stuttered, half surprised at how concerned he seemed, and half surprised by how much his anxiety built as time passed. “I’m- I’m on a ship…”</p><p>“I see…” Kravitz looked conflicted, as if he was debating on doing something or not. In the end, he shook his head and put a hand on Taako’s shoulder. “I would suggest you find something to distract you, but that may be hard right now…”</p><p>“Y-yeah…” Taako shrunk away from Kravitz’s hand on his shoulder, not pushing it off but somewhat unsure of the added sensory input right now. He stared at the fancy rug on the floor in front of them. He first followed the patterns of it, then counted the stitches he could see when he looked closer.</p><p>Kravitz seemed to realize he was doing this and started to do something similar. He started to smile slowly. “Ah, that’s what it was. Five things you can see…”</p><p>“What?” Taako looked at him.</p><p>“I had read something in a book at the embassy, different ways to handle anxiety,” Kravitz explained, trying to pretend like it wasn’t another shocking revelation that he had been reading about anxiety despite not experiencing it himself and might have been actively looking for ways to help Taako. “One of the ways was to go through the five senses; five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.”</p><p>“How is that supposed to help?” Taako asked, fidgeting with his hands in his lap.</p><p>“Apparently it’s helpful in getting you out of your anxious thought patterns, it helps bring you back into the moment without much trouble,” Kravitz said, gently taking one of his hands. “Try it, see if it helps.”</p><p>Taako stared at his hand, held so softly by Kravitz’s warm hand. He looked around, trying to ignore his face heating up. “F-five things I can see… Uh, wood? And… Lanterns. Big fancy doors, a bed that’s ridiculously large, and… A dear friend.”</p><p>Kravitz smiled at him as his gaze fell back on him. “Good! Now four things you can feel.”</p><p>“The fabric of my clothes, the cool ocean air, my braided hair against the back of my neck…” Taako glanced at his hand, still held. “… Your hand in mine.”</p><p>Kravitz’s face got a little pink but he pressed on. “Three things you can hear?”</p><p>“The waves, the creaking of the ship,” Taako said, looking around at the polished wood of the ship. Then he felt bold and far less anxious. He spoke without looking back at Kravitz. “… Your kind voice.”</p><p>“Next, two things you can smell.” Kravitz’s hand tightened around his slightly, making him look back over.</p><p>“The fresh ocean air,” Taako said, taking a breath. “And your elegant cologne.”</p><p>“This is supposed to be about helping you feel better,” Kravitz said, finally breaking and covering his embarrassed expression.</p><p>“It is!” Taako said, laughing. “There’s only one left, come on!”</p><p>“I fear what you’ll do with it,” Kravitz said dramatically, not uncovering his face. “You’re far more devious than you look.”</p><p>“Come on, say it! One last one!” Taako grabbed his hands playfully, trying to pull them away from his face. </p><p>Kravitz sighed, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He let his hands be pulled from his face. “Fine. One thing you can taste?”</p><p>There was a millisecond that Taako lost his nerve, the he remembered who he was and where he was and what was going on and how dangerous things were. A millisecond where Taako doubted every action he’d taken in his life up to this point, doubted his ability to act properly, doubted his ability to know how he should be acting in this situation, if he was crossing some line. </p><p>Then that moment passed, and he moved forward to kiss Kravitz. Just once, quickly, like there was an underlying worry that if he lingered, something bad might happen. That worry, if present, was squashed quickly when Kravitz followed him to kiss him once more, just as chaste, but for a split second longer before pulling away.</p><p>Taako was completely still, staring at him with a fully red face. Kravitz was blushing too, but he looked happier than he’d ever been.</p><p>“Was that super illegal?” Taako asked suddenly.</p><p>“What?” Kravitz couldn’t help but laugh in surprise.</p><p>“Should I not kiss my visiting ambassadors?” Taako looked away from him and held a hand up to gently touch his lips. “Hm. That might be super illegal…”</p><p>“Perhaps you’ll have to ask Lucretia when we return,” Kravitz said, somewhat confused. For now, they would have to put that moment away. “Are you feeling better?”</p><p>Taako blinked and stared at the wall. “Huh. I am.”</p><p>“That’s wonderful,” Kravitz said with a smile. “I’m glad I could help you feel less anxious.”</p><p>“Mm…” Taako was still looking away from him, an expression that looked like he was lost in thought.</p><p>“Please let me know if I can do anything else to help calm your nerves in the future,” Kravitz said, standing up. He was defaulting to his most official tone and way of speaking. How odd, their waves of speech toward each other. There was some layer of professionalism that kept them from becoming closer, he would have to accept that. “I’m going to see if the captain needs any help.”</p><p>“Alright, well…” Taako started strong but trailed off, looking conflicted as Kravitz walked toward the door. “Th-thank you.”</p><p>“You are very welcome, Your Highness,” Kravitz said, hoping Taako could pick up on the extra feeling he put into the words. “Like I said, please tell me if you need help again.”</p><p>“I will,” Taako said, mirroring the feeling in Kravitz’s voice. Despite the moment being somewhat ruined, Kravitz felt his heart skip a beat. Maybe one day…</p><p>Taako watched him leave and felt bad for acting how he had, but he had been completely overwhelmed when they’d kissed. He was not prepared for what that had felt like. He was also completely caught up in memorizing that feeling and analyzing it. It was definitely something he wanted to do again…</p><p>He shook himself from his thoughts. Kravitz was right, he had to ask Lucretia about whether this little thing they had going on was allowed to continue. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>They were a few days into the journey, passing the forest on its left, when a storm suddenly appeared over them. One moment nothing was wrong, the sky was clear, and the sea around them was peaceful and quiet. The next moment, rain was pelting the deck of the ship and everyone on it, drenching them quickly.</p><p>“What the-?!” Taako shouted in surprise, stumbling backward against the force of the wind that suddenly blew them in all directions.</p><p>“What on earth?!” Davenport shouted, running to the steering wheel of the ship.</p><p>“Again…?” Magnus said quietly, looking at the sky through the rain in confusion.</p><p>“H-has this happened before?!” Taako asked, grabbing his arm to keep from falling over. </p><p>“Once, when we were returning from the glacier,” Magnus answered. “Storm came out of nowhere and forced us to leave… I wonder what’s caused this one?”</p><p>Taako was about to respond when he heard the voice sing to him. He turned toward the direction it was coming from and he saw the forest. “Take us to the forest!”</p><p>“What?! Why?!” Davenport called from the other side of the ship.</p><p>“The voice!” Taako called back. “It wants us to go that way!”</p><p>“Alright, fine!” Davenport got as close to the shores by the forest as possible, then had the crew lower the ladder down, having no time to use the lifeboats in a storm this strong.</p><p>The rain started to wane as they climbed down, down to a drizzle by the time Davenport disembarked from the ship. As soon as he let go of the ladder, the wind suddenly changed and dislodged the ship from its docked position. The crew member that had been climbing down gripped the ladder in surprise as the ship started to be pushed from the shore.</p><p>“What?!” Davenport shouted.</p><p>“Wait!” Taako yelled. “No, don’t-!”</p><p>Without much more regard for them, it seemed, the ship was pushed further away and back toward Arendelle. Before they could do anything, Taako, Kravitz, Magnus, and Davenport were left alone on the edge of the forest. </p><p>“Why-” Taako was about to say, until the voice called for him so loud it almost hurt. “H-hey! Alright I get it!”</p><p>“It really wants us to follow it, huh?” Davenport sighed.</p><p>“Yeah, fuckin’ yelling at me,” Taako grumbled, looking through the trees. As usual, anxiety bubbled up to the surface. “D-do we know if there are any wolves or anything in these woods?”</p><p>“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe,” Magnus said instantly, walking over to stand by Taako protectively. “Just point us in the direction we need to go in.”</p><p>“Yes, apparently we’re past the point of no return,” Davenport said, reaching to look down the water. The ship was already out of sight. “The plan has just changed drastically.”</p><p>Kravitz walked with Davenport to take stock of what they would need should they have to make camp, and Magnus stayed close to Taako as they walked through the woods. It was still early in the day, the sun still casting soft light in the sky above them. The calm atmosphere did seemingly jack shit for Taako’s nerves. He had his hands clutched tightly in front of him, fidgeting with his fingers ever so often before going back to holding them together. He kept looking over his shoulders, too, as if checking to make sure Kravitz and Davenport were still there. After a while of this, Magnus put his hand on Taako’s shoulder, making him jump.</p><p>“Calm down, Your Highness, everything’s okay right now,” he said, smiling at him. </p><p>“H-how do you know?” Taako asked, trying not to sound as nervous as he suddenly felt.</p><p>“Listen,” Magnus said, holding up a finger.</p><p>Around them, Taako heard birds chirping, the leaves rustling in the breeze, and the occasional sound of a squirrel or other small rodent.</p><p>“The woods are quiet, but not too quiet,” Magnus explained. “If it were silent, we would be smart to be worried. But the animals are going about their lives, which means nothing is threatening them, and least of all us.”</p><p>Taako nodded as he spoke, looking around. He saw a bird’s nest with a few growing babies in a tall tree, the father bird standing guard while the mother was apparently out looking for food. He saw a squirrel for a moment as it ran into a hole in a tree, probably bringing home his spoils from foraging. He saw a bird flying lazily over the trees, just a few glimpses of it between the tree branches. Magnus was right, the forest was quiet, almost tranquil. It did calm his nerves considerably, to his surprise.</p><p>“Let’s make as much ground as we can today before we have to build camp, alright?” Davenport called from behind them. “I’ve got some plans for nightfall that I’ll need all your help for.”</p><p>“Okay,” Taako called back, just as the voice called to him. “Voice says north.”</p><p>“Figured,” Davenport said quietly, passing Magnus and Taako. Kravitz offered Taako a smile as he followed Davenport.</p><p>“What do you figure?” Taako asked, trying to keep up with them.</p><p>“I have an idea of where the voice is leading us,” Davenport said. “But I want to be sure first.”</p><p>Taako looked at Magnus, who just shrugged. Davenport would share his thoughts in time, but Taako liked to know things. </p><p>“Just wait until we get to the other end of the forest, Taako,” Davenport said, sensing his impatience. “Then I’ll explain my theory.”</p><p>Taako huffed in annoyance, but nodded anyway. “Fine, let’s just get moving faster.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The night came faster once they started focusing on moving north. The voice didn’t quiet down when they started setting up a makeshift camp, and when Taako finally lay down to sleep he started getting annoyed.</p><p>“Shh,” he whispered as the voice kept calling. “I’m going to sleep right now, shut up…”</p><p>There was a beat of silence, and for a moment he thought he would get to sleep. But then the voice called again.</p><p>“Shh!” he said, louder this time.</p><p>“Taako?” Kravitz said, sitting up from his cot.</p><p>“Ugh!” Taako groaned, sitting up. “It won’t shut up! It’s so loud!”</p><p>“We must be close then,” Davenport said absently. He was going over a map he’d made in the light of their fire. He and Magnus were on the first shift, they would stay up to keep watch for a few hours, then they would wake Taako and Kravitz to take their place.</p><p>But apparently that might not be happening, if the voice wouldn’t let Taako sleep.</p><p>“Can you communicate with it somehow?” Kravitz asked, feeling somewhat helpless.</p><p>“No. I mean, maybe? It could just be ignoring me,” Taako sighed. It called and called again before quieting down again. “Please, just stop for eight hours and let me sleep.”</p><p>The voice called again, louder this time, then stopped.</p><p>“I don’t care!” Taako shouted. He felt like a child, and also completely insane for yelling at a voice no one else could hear. “I’m trying to sleep! I don’t care how close we are!”</p><p>“Well, hold on,” Kravitz said suddenly, reaching to put a hand on Taako’s arm to comfort him. “Have you asked if they’re in danger?”</p><p>Taako made a frustrated noise, but shook his head nonetheless. “Are you in immediate danger? Do you need us to rush over right now?”</p><p>The voice didn’t respond.</p><p>“Say nothing if you need us right now, right this second,” Taako said.</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>“Okay, then in that case, fucking shut up for eight hours!” Taako shouted, laying back down and pulling his coat around him tighter. “It’s bad enough we have to sleep on the fucking ground because of you, the least you could do is have some fucking patience!”</p><p>The voice called to him.</p><p>“I don’t know what that means, use your words if you have something to say!” Taako yelled back.</p><p>There was no response.</p><p>“Then shut up!”</p><p>The others stared at Taako’s back with wide eyes, then shared a few concerned glances. But apparently the conversation had ended, so they went back to what they’d been doing before. Davenport leaned back over his map in the dirt, Magnus went back to watching the area around them, and Kravitz laid back down to try and get some rest.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The next morning came with Taako’s angry shouts as the voice woke him from his already fitful sleep. Magnus and Davenport, having taken the last shift, were packing up their small amount of supplies they’d made when he did so. Kravitz was sure he would’ve fallen out of bed if he’d been in one. </p><p>“Fuck!” Taako shouted, shoving himself up from the ground. “Fine, I get it! We’re moving!”</p><p>The walk was much quieter and more tired than the day before. Taako stomped through the brush, flurries of red ice left in his wake. Kravitz kept cracking his back, the ground offering little to no support. Magnus tried his best not to show his discomfort, but he kept clearing his throat and rolling his shoulders. Davenport was far too focused on making sure they were going the right way to show any signs of sleep deprivation like the others. </p><p>By the time the sun started to set, Taako looked close to tears just from having to walk all day. Kravitz was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Magnus looked alright, though now he’d gone from rolling his shoulders and clearing his throat to squeezing his eyes shut every now and then and shaking his head to keep himself awake. Davenport was losing steam too.</p><p>“Alright, let’s set up camp here,” Davenport finally said, sitting on a fallen tree stump. </p><p>Taako suddenly made a frustrated noise. “No, according to jabberjaw over here, we have to keep moving!”</p><p>“Is there any way to block it out?” Magnus asked, sitting by Davenport.</p><p>“You think I wouldn’t have by now if there was?!” Taako turned to them with a furious expression, cold air billowing around him. </p><p>“Taako,” Kravitz said gently, reaching a hand out to him. “I think we should find a way for us all to calm down a little.”</p><p>Taako turned to him, probably to yell, but as usual he was startled out of his rage by Kravitz’s warm hand on his arm. He blinked and realized how childish he was being. His shoulders slumped and he stared at the ground, realizing he was surrounded by ice.</p><p>“Sorry,” he muttered, hugging himself slightly. He sighed and looked back up at Kravitz. “Did you have some idea?”</p><p>“I was thinking about making tea,” Kravitz said with a smile. “We’ve found many leaves that I’m sure are safe flowers to consume, and the water up here is fresh. If we could just find a way to boil it, we could make tea!”</p><p>“I love that idea,” Davenport sighed, taking out the small metal cup he’d accidentally brought with them off the ship. He’d clipped it to his belt after breakfast, meaning to take it back later. He tossed it to Kravitz, who barely caught it in time. “We only have one cup and no way to filter out the leaves, but it’s better than nothing.”</p><p>“I’ll make you some tea, Taako!” Kravitz said excitedly. He seemed over the moon to be able to do something more useful than stay up all night.</p><p>Taako sat on the ground while Kravitz ran off with Magnus to the shore nearby to get water. Davenport was quiet, just watching Taako for a moment before looking north to the direction they still needed to go.</p><p>“Will you just tell me what your theory is already?” Taako asked tiredly, curling his legs up under his chin.</p><p>“Hm,” Davenport hummed, breaking a stick off the tree stump he was sitting on and beginning to draw in the dirt between them. “The voice is leading us north, correct?”</p><p>“Yeah?” Taako watched Davenport make curled lines through the dirt with his stick, creating the familiar outline of the northern coast.</p><p>“What’s this far north?” Davenport asked, pointing to the shoreline he had drawn.</p><p>“The North Sea,” Taako said with some recognition. The North Sea was notoriously choppy and dangerous, the only two Arendellean Naval Captains who had managed to sail there and return safely were Davenport and Captain Avi. And further north than that was…</p><p>“The glacier,” Davenport said, as if reading Taako’s mind. “It’s leading us to the glacier.”</p><p>“Why?” Taako asked, watching Davenport draw the rough outline of the glacier beyond the North Sea. “Why now and not when we had investigated it?”</p><p>“Hard to know for sure,” Davenport answered, shrugging. “Maybe it was just… time?”</p><p>“But time for what?” Taako asked to no one in particular. What could the glacier want? It had been almost twenty three years, and specifically two since they’d examined the glacier closely. Why had it waited so long to call to him?</p><p>When Magnus and Kravitz came back from the shore, they had odd expressions on their faces.</p><p>“Did you manage to get some water?” Taako asked. He hugged his knees a little tighter, thinking about the glacier.</p><p>“Yes, but…” Kravitz said, sighing.</p><p>“We’ve made a discovery-” Magnus started, then a large drop of water landed squarely in on the top of his head.</p><p>Taako and Davenport instantly looked up, seeing another storm forming over them.</p><p>“Yeah, seems like whatever the voice did before is happening again,” Magnus sighed. “Storm is moving in from the north, if we want to keep going that way, we need to find or make shelter fast.”</p><p>Davenport had already hopped off the tree stump and started looking around for things to do just that. “Kravitz, Taako, you two go east and look for caves, I know there are some mountains that way. Me and Magnus will gather as much wood as possible for a fire and anything we can make a clean and dry shelter out of.”</p><p>“On it,” Taako said, hopping up from the ground. Kravitz came over to join him as he started walking east, the small cup of water still held tightly in his hands.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he said after they’d left earshot of the others. “I was hoping to make you some tea so that you could relax a bit, but now…”</p><p>“Hey, it wasn’t your fault a storm came out of nowhere,” Taako said, brushing it off. He was bummed that he wouldn’t get a hot drink from a hot guy now, but they could always have one after they got back from wherever they were going. “Nothing to be sorry for.”</p><p>“I suppose…” Kravitz sighed and stared at the cup. “Still. I was hoping to do something nice for you, something that would hopefully calm your anxieties.”</p><p>Taako felt two separate ways about this moment they were sharing. The first half was the tired, annoyed half where he felt like this conversation was so pointless and stupid that he should just demand they drop it, it was just tea. But the other half was the half that felt so endeared towards Kravitz because this man really was so bummed out about not being able to make tea for his crush, wasn’t he? What a dork. In the end, the latter half won out and Taako smiled to himself at Kravitz’s childish pouting face.</p><p>“It’s alright, you can make me tea when we get back to Arendelle,” Taako said, taking a breath to let the tension out of his shoulders. </p><p>Kravitz glanced at him, noticing his change in demeanor. His spirit seemed to lift a little at the sight.</p><p>They traversed the woods further east until they finally reached the hills that slowly turned into mountain ranges at the east edge of the forest. Making their way over the hills, they spotted what could be a cave ahead. It turned out to just be a small alcove, but it was big enough for them to use as shelter from the storm.</p><p>“Let’s go get the others and make a proper camp here for the night,” Kravitz said, and Taako nodded.</p><p>As they made their way back to Davenport and Magnus, Taako wondered again what he was being called for. Why did the glacier want him to go to it so bad? And why did it seem like something was trying to keep them from getting there? The strange storms may have been caused by the voice to speed things up, but before on the ship Taako had gotten the impression that the voice was trying to save them from the storm by giving them a separate route on land. And now, in the forest, the storm was coming from the north, but the voice wanted them to go north. It wouldn’t make sense for the voice to create a storm that would make it harder for them to get to the glacier. Maybe something else was calling him to the glacier, and the glacier was trying to protect him? Or… the other way around? Which was worse?</p><p>They settled into the small alcove, Magnus and Davenport starting a fire that helped very well after a while to warm the stone and keep them from freezing. Well, keep the others from freezing, Taako was fine in the cold. The voice had quieted down for a while after the storm showed up, so Taako was hopeful about getting some sleep tonight. But sure enough, as soon as the rain started letting up, the voice kicked back up, calling him insistently.</p><p>“It’s nighttime, we can’t keep going right now,” Taako said quietly, hoping he didn’t sound as crazy as he felt. The voice called again. “No! I’m going to sleep, you have to wait!”</p><p>Kravitz silently reached from where he was trying to sleep and put a hand on Taako’s shoulder, gently brushing his thumb over it.</p><p>“I’m okay,” Taako said instantly. “Just trying to shut the gremlin up…”</p><p>“I know,” Kravitz said quietly. “I’m just… Sorry you have to deal with that. You should be able to rest.”</p><p>Taako shrugged slightly, not enough to knock Kravitz’s hand off. “I mean, what can we do about it?”</p><p>“I’m going to have a word with them once we find them,” Kravitz said, and Taako found his determination adorable.</p><p>“Thank you, by the way,” Taako said, glancing over his shoulder. “I can’t remember if I’ve thanked you yet, for coming with. But you’ve been very helpful, very… Nice to have around. So thanks.”</p><p>“You’re welcome, Your Highness, as always.” Kravitz’s warm eyes and warm hand and warm tone- they all reminded Taako of something, maybe someone… It must be his sister, he realized. She had always had the warmest smiles and the brightest personality. There was some kind of pressure at the back of his head, something he couldn’t remember. He figured it was because the memory was just so old, it had been so long since she had died…</p><p>The voice called again, and this time Taako ignored it, figuring acknowledging it would only make things worse. For now, they would sleep. Tomorrow, when the sun rose again, they would set out toward the North Sea shore, and from there… Who knew what would happen.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Alone in Arendelle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Barry Bluejeans is a normal man who has never had an unexplainable experience in his life.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Barry woke with the sun. He made his breakfast like all other days, he dressed for the weather like all other days, he got his mail like all other days, and he raked the leaves in his front yard like all other days. Then, like all other days, he packed up his sled with his wares and headed into town.</p><p>He first went to the general store to sell things like premium wood from the mountains, the good kind that burned for a long time, people would pay very well for it. He also sold carved wooden poles that the store owner would make into rakes, those he always paid well for. Then, Barry went to the collection box within the palace walls to pay his taxes with some of the money he’d just gotten. Barely made a dent in his earnings, thankfully.</p><p>Looking up at the towering palace, Barry felt a dull weight in his chest. He couldn’t remember why, but he felt sad. Terribly sad, like he’d lost someone dear to him. He stayed a while longer to try and pinpoint the feeling before giving up with a sigh. The guards thanked him for paying his taxes and offered him a hot meal for breakfast, but Barry refused since he’d already eaten. Plus, he still had errands to run.</p><p>On his way through town, he stopped by the tailor shop to get his boots fixed up. He paid a fair amount for that, but it was always worth it. They lasted all year when he got the fur lining redone and the soles replaced. The skin on the outside was from his father’s boots, so he planned on keeping them a long time. He thanked the tailor and then headed off into the woods to the north.</p><p>The woods felt like they always did. The trees reminded him of his father and his grandfather. They’d taught him everything about just about everything. They had hunted animals and sold their meat, but Barry had always been too squeamish for selling game. He had decided to do the hard work of wood collecting in the high mountains instead. He wasn’t quite as skilled at lumbering as other men in Arendelle, but he had learned from the best once his father realized that was what he wanted to do. He was decent, plenty decent enough to sell directly to the general store. Others either sold directly off the streets because of their reputations or had their very own stores to sell from. Barry was just fine selling his to the general store, he made plenty of money that way. Plus, it wasn’t like he wanted his own store. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted anymore…</p><p>It was always when he got to the ice woods that his brain got fuzzy. The dull weight came back. He stared at the trees, watching his reflection warp as he got closer. When he touched them, the weight got heavier, his brain fuzzier. Something was strange about these woods… Barry was determined to figure out what.</p><p>As a child, he had always wanted to be more of a researcher than a woodsman though, his mother had found it cute. In her early life, she had been in the running to be a Royal Researcher. That all stopped when she had her accident. She’d fallen down the stairs and been concussed, causing permanent damage to her spine and her memory. She couldn’t remember things linearly anymore and she was suddenly unable to do her work. Eventually her condition worsened and she passed away. Her research sat in Barry’s family home, now his from the loss of just about every family member who had lived in Arendelle. His grandmother still lived here, but she had moved out into a hospice. Barry still sent payments there so she could live the rest of her days as comfortably as possible.</p><p>Maybe he would get into research finally, see if his mother ever knew anything about these ice woods and how they formed. Maybe it was the magical monarch, King Taako? That did make the most sense, but as soon as he started considering it, his brain got fuzzy again. </p><p>Barry sighed and turned away from the ice woods. He would check her research when he got home.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The room was cold when Barry opened the door. The heat from the fireplace never had a chance to warm the room when the door was always shut. He opened the curtains to let in the light of the day, casting a dull light through the dust floating through the air. Barry sat at his mother’s old desk and stared at the dust-covered research she had left out on the day of her accident. Things about Arendelle’s fjord, the cycles of rain and water from the mountains, even how best to preserve the stone of the roads. His mother had been trying to become someone who would improve the lives of everyone in Arendelle, someone who would know more than the average consultant and who could come up with unique ways to solve issues. And what was Barry doing? Slaving away in the mountains to get enough wood to pay for dinner? He was interested in his mother’s research too, but he was sure he wasn’t smart enough to understand it. She had gotten a golden education from her Genovia, her home country. Barry had never even completed regular schooling, let alone anything close to college. </p><p>He looked around the room, seeing the bookshelves full of old school books of his mother’s. Maybe he could read these and learn something? He took down one book and opened it, reading the first few pages before coughing from the dust covering the book. Cleaning first, he thought.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The moon was high overhead when Barry finally got fed up with the fuzz in his brain. He had been thinking about the ice woods, or at least trying to. He knows he’d seen them somewhere before, sometime not too long ago. It was eating at him, while also being forcibly withheld from him. He had spent the day cleaning his mother’s study and then preparing dinner. He had read some of her old textbooks over dinner. Now he was in bed, and staring at the ceiling, becoming increasingly more angry. </p><p>Finally, he threw off the covers and shot up out of bed. He was going insane, he thought as he pulled on his warm clothes and heavy snow boots. Throwing on the final pieces of his outfit to keep him warm, he headed out into the cold dark night. </p><p>He went straight to the woods, easily able to avoid the Royal Guard patrolling the streets. Ever since King Taako left for his expedition of the woods, Merle Highchurch had increased the amount of Royal Guards patrolling in an effort to quell the citizens’ anxiety. </p><p>The woods were the same as they always were, cold and unforgiving. In the dark they were even moreso. Barry walked through the normal trees until he reached the ice woods. Again, his brain went fuzzy, as if his head were full of beer or cider. He was determined to figure out what this meant. </p><p>He stepped forward and his brain told him not to. He stepped forward again and he winced at the forceful wave of confusion that hit him. Forward again and again he went, pushing through the confusion and fuzz until he was engulfed in a strange brain fog. He was trying to think about things and they were dissolving before they could reach him. It felt like his brain was drowning. </p><p>He kept moving forward, walking through the ice woods and watching his reflection warp over the trees in the dark as he moved. They seemed to glow on their own, which fascinated the part of his brain that wasn’t fighting to think properly.</p><p>When he stepped through the other side of the woods, he was amazed at what waited for him. A giant glowing palace of ice, towering over him and rivaling the mountain in height. Seeing it, he was knocked off his feet by the confusion and distortion that seemed to be coming off it in waves. He had seen it before. That was the only thought that could crystallize in his mind. Barry had seen this palace before. He can almost picture the day, snow falling heavily, wind blowing around him- but the memory fizzles out after that. He turns to say something to someone he assumes, and then it’s gone, a puddle of information and confusion. </p><p>Sitting in the snow, he stared up at the palace, his brain seeming to melt trying to think of what these thoughts mean. He almost doesn’t realize someone has found him and is grabbing him. He can’t seem to do anything about it, unable to turn his attention away from the dull weight in his chest and the fresh tears in his eyes that he doesn’t understand.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“…wake yet, is he?”</p><p>“Not yet… looking at the palace… no, the ice one…”</p><p>Barry had a fucking killer headache. He didn’t dare open his eyes, fearing there would be light that would make it worse.</p><p>“I’ll send for you if I need anything else.” Someone was talking, a door shut. “Are you awake yet, boy?”</p><p>Barry had half a mind to pretend like he was asleep and try to rest his aching head. But he had been asked a question, and he was pretty sure he recognized that voice…</p><p>Slowly, he lifted his hand up to cover his eyes. “M-my head…”</p><p>“Hm, figures,” Merle said with a huff. He held up a hand and Barry felt some kind of gentle breeze falling on his face, like a waterfall of cool air. With it, his headache started to ease. “That feeling better?”</p><p>“Yeah, a l-little…”</p><p>“Are you feeling good enough to have a chat?” Merle asked. He pulled up a chair next to the cot Barry realized he was on.</p><p>He opened his eyes finally to the thankfully dully lit room. He was in the Royal Infirmary in the palace. Under different circumstances he would feel honored. “Wh-what happened?”</p><p>“I was going to ask you that,” Merle said, clasping his hands together on his lap and relaxing into his seat. “What were you doing up there so late?”</p><p>“I-I was…” Barry started to try and remember, and his headache got so much worse. “Ah f-fuck…”</p><p>“Okay, nevermind,” Merle said instantly, holding out a hand. The same cool air hit Barry’s face and his head stopped throbbing. After he was finished, Merle crossed his arms and looked thoughtful. “Clearly something is amiss with that place…”</p><p>“I was trying… to figure out why my brain was so fuzzy,” Barry finally got out, pointedly not thinking about what he’d seen. “When I go up there, it gets all…”</p><p>“Melty?” Merle supplied.</p><p>“Kind of,” Barry said, nodding.</p><p>“Well, don’t you dare go up there again,” Merle said sternly. “That’s not just a feeling, your mind was literally melting at whatever you were looking at or trying to think of.”</p><p>“Wh-what?!” Barry stared at him.</p><p>“Whatever you do, don’t go back up there again,” Merle instructed. “I barely got to you in time this time, I can’t guarantee I will next time. I’ll have some men investigate and see if they can find out what’s causing it.”</p><p>Barry nodded. He fully intended on following his instructions. His mind had actually been melting… In what sense? Memory, probably. How terrifying…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's it for this week! I'm confident I'll be able to post one chapter next week, and hopefully finish the fic before that so I can post the last three chapters all at once. Expect the next chapter on the 22nd of January!<br/>Thank you again so much for reading, I love and appreciate everyone who takes the time to read what I write! I hope you enjoyed reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Where the North Wind Meets the Sea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The journey through the woods culminates in the arrival at the black-sand beach of the North Sea. Taako remembers he has magical powers.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whoa! Something has changed! There are now 10 chapters instead of 9!! What does that mean? Well, it means that today I won't be posting just one chapter, but two! Surprise! I figured it was more fair, and made it easier for me as I finish up the last chapter so I could still post the last three together. So! This chapter and the next will be posted today! The very last chapter isn't finished just yet, but I'm very close to being done, so I'm going to say the last three chapters should be posted on the 31st at the absolute latest. I expect them to be ready earlier than that, but you never know, I did just start the semester. In any case, please enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The clouds were still overhead, but the rain had finally stopped. Taako, Davenport, Magnus, and Kravitz all started walking again when the morning came. Davenport filled Magnus and Kravitz in on his theory about where the voice was taking them. Taako shared his confusion about why the voice hadn’t called earlier and how he thought it might not be the voice causing the storms.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” Magnus asked, looking over his shoulder at Taako.</p>
<p>“Well, it just doesn’t make much sense when you think about it,” he responded, looking up to the sky. “Why would the voice keep calling me north but then create a storm to force us south?”</p>
<p>“You might be right,” Kravitz said thoughtfully. “Maybe someone else is causing the storms to try and keep us from finding the voice.”</p>
<p>“If the voice is the glacier, then what does that mean for what we might find when we get there?” Davenport asked, though not to anyone in particular. “Who is trying to keep us away from the glacier?”</p>
<p>Taako realized for the first time that he really truly had no idea where any other magic users were in the world. He knew he wasn’t the only one, Merle was a healer, but for the first time he realized that there could be people out there who used magic for evil. When he was young, Taako thought his magic could only be used to hurt people. He could make ice and snow, sure, but those things were cold and hard. He never believed they could be good or even ever kept secret. But he’d grown to realize that wasn’t true. They could be used for good, to protect. Like the child who fell into the river who he’d made a boat for, or the man he’d saved from being crushed by the runaway lumber cart in town. His power could be used to keep people safe. </p>
<p>Now he was faced with an equally true fact. There were other magic users in the world, and they could choose to use their powers to hurt people. Perhaps they felt they had to, perhaps they’d been told they could never use them to help, perhaps they were just a bad person with who happened to have magic; in any case, these people existed, Taako was sure of it. Because if he tried to pretend like that wasn’t a very real plausibility, he would surely get burned by the truth sooner or later.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>It wasn’t nearly twenty minutes later when thunder boomed over them, and rain began to fall again. It wasn’t as heavy as the night before, but they could tell it was sure to get worse as time went on. Taako kept hearing the voice, calling more and more urgently as they got further north. He was unsure what it meant, what to do about it. They couldn’t run, they might be wasting energy they would need for something waiting for them. Plus, Taako was unsure about Kravitz’s ability to keep up in that instance. While he was a fit man he was definitely also a man who did not have to have high stamina for things like running away from a crazed magic user. And gods, Taako hoped it wouldn’t come to that.</p>
<p>The voice called louder this time, so loud that Taako’s ears almost hurt.</p>
<p>“Gods, what?!” he shouted, holding his ears. “Why don’t you just show me what’s so important?!”</p>
<p>The others stopped to look at him, and the voice went quiet. Then, it called, gentler now, seven notes instead of four.</p>
<p>Shoving down the embarrassment, Taako sang the same seven notes back. A small flame appeared in front of him, flickering in the rain. He quickly covered it as best he could with his cloak and made a questioning face at it.</p>
<p>“What’s this going to help?” he asked.</p>
<p>The flame turned into a target.</p>
<p>“You better show me something useful,” he muttered, shooting a small blast of his own magic into the target. It swirled together, turning purple, then exploded into a fog that surrounded him and the others.</p>
<p>Inside the fog, Taako stood in darkness, alone.</p>
<p>“Voice?” he called hesitantly, turning around to see if anything was there. He quickly got disoriented, realizing there was nothing notable to mark where he was or if he was even anywhere. The only thing he had to keep him grounded was the ground beneath him, which was equally black and reflectionless. “K-Kravitz? Davenport? Magnus?”</p>
<p>Finally, the voice called to him, directing him in a direction. There, he saw a flame, which quickly shaped into a target. He shot at it immediately, and it formed into a landscape before him.</p>
<p>“The… The glacier,” Taako said in realization. “That’s the glacier! A-are you the…?”</p>
<p>The landscape dissolved, the facade of the glacier giving way to a winding interior and a giant chamber at the center of it. </p>
<p>“What is this…?” Taako walked closer. “A map?”</p>
<p>The picture changed again, moving into the largest chamber at the center of the glacier. There was a giant pillar in the middle of the chamber, which now he could see was a large dome. The voice sang to him, and the pillar in the chamber it was showing him lit up bright orange.</p>
<p>“Are you… are you in there?” Taako said, reaching a hand out toward the pillar. “You’re calling me from inside the glacier?”</p>
<p>Around him, the scene dissolved into magic fog again and swirled around him excitedly. The voice sang its four notes, then seven.</p>
<p>Then suddenly the space was gone, dropping to the ground like it suddenly had weight, and Taako fell to his knees on the forest floor. The flame was gone, like it had never been there, and the rain drenched him through the trees. Around him, the others spun around in confusion.</p>
<p>“Wh-what was that?!” Magnus demanded of no one, spinning around, sword drawn. “What-?!”</p>
<p>“Gods, so that’s magic…” Davenport said unsteadily, sitting down on the ground.</p>
<p>“What did you all see in there?” Kravitz asked immediately, looking to Taako. He was the least affected, it seemed, by what had just happened. He reached out and put a hand on Taako’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” Taako said, absently leaning into his touch. “I’m still unsure about some things, but… Someone is inside the glacier.”</p>
<p>“I saw it too,” Davenport said. He was staring at the ground. “But they told us nothing of what’s causing the storms.”</p>
<p>“We all saw the same thing?” Taako asked, looking to Magnus. He was still frazzled, but he nodded as he sheathed his sword. When Taako looked at Kravitz, he had a complicated expression on his face.</p>
<p>“There’s someone in the glacier calling to you,” Kravitz said, an obvious deflection that told Taako everything he needed to know. “We have to get there fast.”</p>
<p>Taako wanted to call him out, but knew there were more important things to get done first. “Voice, is there anyone waiting for us there?”</p>
<p>The voice called insistently, and Taako didn’t know how to take that.</p>
<p>“Okay, new plan,” he said, standing up. “Call to me if yes, stay silent of no. Got it?”</p>
<p>The voice called.</p>
<p>“Okay. Is there someone dangerous waiting for us at the glacier?”</p>
<p>Nothing.</p>
<p>“Are you causing the storms above us?”</p>
<p>At first the voice was silent, then it sang a single note, and this time it sounded unsure.</p>
<p>“You aren’t sure? Alright, put a pin in that. Are you a good person?” Taako hoped they would tell the truth, because they were about to have to run through the soaking wet forest drenched to save this person and he really would prefer to save a good person rather than someone trying to trick them into letting them wreak havoc.</p>
<p>The voice called, seven notes instead of four.</p>
<p>“Alright, I’m trusting your answer,” Taako huffed. He turned to the others then. “Let’s go, we need to move faster.”</p>
<p>“W-we’re uh, we’re close enough to the shore that we could make it by sundown if we-” Davenport started, and Taako interrupted him.</p>
<p>“Then we better get the lead out and make haste, don’t you think?” Taako asked rhetorically, turning north.</p>
<p>Next to him, Kravitz grabbed his hand. Hopefully he could get used to the warmth, because he was tired of getting surprised by it every time. “I’m ready, let’s go.”</p>
<p>Magnus said nothing, just nodded again and looked determinedly north.</p>
<p>Davenport got up from where he’d sat and huffed a sigh. “I’m getting too old for this…”</p>
<p>“Whine about it to Lucretia,” Taako said with a smirk he couldn’t hold back. </p>
<p>They all broke into a sprint north, Taako and Kravitz running with their hands held tight. Davenport, despite his size, kept perfect pace with Magnus, who bounded ahead of them at what was surely not his full speed. They ran together, and soon Taako realized he might actually be the weakest link in the group. Kravitz was not losing steam, Magnus could surely run all day, and even Davenport in his old age was running like Magnus. Taako, on the other hand, felt like his lungs were on fire, and his legs were getting heavy, and his head was starting to spin. Maybe spending half your life locked inside your room doing strength exercises didn’t exactly translate to the stamina required to run like they were now.</p>
<p>He started losing step with Kravitz, eventually having to let his hand go and realizing he was hyperventilating.</p>
<p>“Taako?!” Kravitz shouted, stopping to check on him.</p>
<p>“Aw dunk,” Taako groaned, coughing. “H-how do y’all run like that?”</p>
<p>“I can carry him,” Magnus said instantly. Taako was about to object, but he kept coughing, and Magnus hoisted him up in his arms and positioned him on his back. “Don’t whine about it.”</p>
<p>Taako couldn’t stop coughing to respond, but he smacked Magnus’ head to get his point across.</p>
<p>They started running again, Taako clutching tightly to Magnus’ shoulders and squeezing his legs around Magnus’ middle. The storm wasn’t letting up, thunder boomed and crashed around them, lightning seen bouncing around inside the clouds. Taako got the impression something was keeping it from striking.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The shore, finally they were there. They’d stopped running a while ago, having made great time already. Before them was quite the scene. The rocky cliffs overlooking the black sand beach of the North Sea shore were slick with the rain. The clouds over the sea were black and angry, lightning bouncing around inside them, lighting the sky in the most ominous way. </p>
<p>“How do we get down there?” Magnus asked, carefully looking over the edge of the cliffs.</p>
<p>“We could find the lowest cliff and jump?” Kravitz offered halfheartedly. </p>
<p>They all sat and thought about how to safely get down in this rain.</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m such an idiot,” Taako said suddenly. The others looked over to him in confusion. “I can fucking-”</p>
<p>Taako held out his hands and created a staircase from the cliffs to the shore. He shook his head at himself as they finally solidified into a gorgeous blue-tinted staircase with a swirling railing.</p>
<p>“Hold the railing tight so you don’t slip,” he said, rolling his eyes at himself, still thinking it ridiculous that it took him this long to remember he could make almost anything they needed out of ice.</p>
<p>They carefully made their way down, Taako easier than the others for some reason probably having to do with his powers over ice, and finally set foot on the black sand beach. </p>
<p>“Quick thinking, Your Highness,” Davenport said. “But now what do we-”</p>
<p>“Do not patronize me,” Taako said with a glare. “I’m a dumbass that could’ve been making our lives easier this whole fucking time.”</p>
<p>With a wave of his hand, the rain around them froze and swirled together. A huge silhouette formed before them, one with a curved bottom, three tall masts, and nine billowing sails.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Davenport said, staring in awe at the ice ship. “Right.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I- ugh, I know,” Taako groaned, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration. He waved around at the rain in general. “Even- even this I could- ugh…”</p>
<p>He formed an umbrella out of ice over him, still looking frustrated with himself.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry your king is such an idiot magician,” he said miserably. “Let’s just get on the fucking ship.” </p>
<p>Taako stomped up the ice board used to get on the ship, followed by the others. As soon as everyone was on the ship, they seemed unsteady. Magnus looked the steadiest, but even his legs shook slightly with the effort it took to not slip. Taako, standing completely steady on the ice, took a moment to find it funny, allowing himself that after all they’d been through. Then he waved a hand and from the boards of ice beneath them grew new fresh snow for them to stand on.</p>
<p>“That better?” he asked them all. </p>
<p>“Yes, thank you, Taako,” Davenport said with a relieved sigh. </p>
<p>“Y-yes, sir,” Magnus said. His voice was trembling for some reason.</p>
<p>“Well, my socks are already soaked,” Kravitz said, lifting his feet out of the snow. “Good to have something to stand on, thank you Your Highness.”</p>
<p>Taako took another look at the men around him. Davenport had put on his serious face, but Taako could see his jaw twitching. Magnus was trembling slightly as he walked toward parts of the ship that needed prepped for departure. When Taako looked at Kravitz, it all became clear. Kravitz was clutching his arms and shivering, the cold rain still pelting them from the north, the cold ice and snow under his feet probably freezing his toes.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Taako said quietly. He felt none of this cold. He didn’t even really mind the rain. He realized with a mix of dread and unease that they couldn’t come with him. They would surely die if they tried.</p>
<p>“Wh-what is it, T-Taako?” Kravitz asked, stepping toward him.</p>
<p>“Mm, nothing…” Taako walked past him toward Davenport and Magnus, suddenly pulling them into a hug.</p>
<p>“Wh-?!” Magnus almost protested until he realized it was Taako, then he was just stunned.</p>
<p>“Taako?” Davenport questioned, eyebrows raised.</p>
<p>“Thank you guys so much, I couldn’t have made it this far without you,” Taako said, squeezing them tighter. </p>
<p>“Taako?” Kravitz called, also confused. But his tone was colored with something, something like knowing…</p>
<p>“I couldn’t have asked for better friends,” Taako said, letting himself be vulnerable and admit that he had friends. “… But I can’t ask you to keep going.”</p>
<p>“What?” Davenport pulled back from their hug.</p>
<p>“I’m going to protect you, Your Highness,” Magnus said firmly, stepping back as well.</p>
<p>“You’ll die,” Taako said, sure of the fact. “The rain, the ice, the cold… You’ll die up there. I can’t even feel the cold like you can, the rain doesn’t bother me, the wind doesn’t bother me…”</p>
<p>“Please don’t say what I think you’re about to,” Kravitz said from behind him.</p>
<p>Taako turned around and looked at his tired face, his chattering teeth, his trembling shoulders. His eyebrows were drawn together, his eyes filled with sadness.</p>
<p>“You can’t keep going, not like this,” Taako said. “I have to go on alone.”</p>
<p>“No!” Magnus shouted.</p>
<p>“Absolutely not,” Davenport said at the same time.</p>
<p>Kravitz stared into his eyes for a moment before speaking. “You have to come back to us safely.”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Taako said with a small laugh. His heart felt so strange, so full of love for these people… Kravitz especially was stirring up extra feelings. He hadn’t laughed because Kravitz’s request was childish or silly, but because it felt unfathomable that he wouldn’t come back to them, to him. It felt silly to entertain the idea that he wouldn’t be coming back at all, so he didn’t entertain it. </p>
<p>“Kravitz, what are you talking about?! He’s not going by himself!” Davenport said angrily. “We’re not just going to leave you to do this on your own!”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Taako said, flashing back to a moment he couldn’t fully remember. “You are.”</p>
<p>In that moment, the ice beneath them cracked apart, sending them down slides of ice through the ship. They wound through the bowels of the ship until they were deposited back onto the black sand of the beach. Taako was still where he stood, in the rain on the deck. </p>
<p>As the three men got back up, reorienting themselves after their sudden departure, the ship started to pull away from the beach. Davenport got up and ran to the shore, shouting for Taako to come back and to let them help him. Magnus sat in the sand, head in his hands, trying to comprehend why he felt he had failed again. Kravitz watched the ship get further away, just watching to make sure it made it as far as possible.</p>
<p>After a while, the ship was out of eyesight, and the storm was letting up. It was as if the storm was following Taako alone. Davenport was still shouting, pacing the beach. Magnus still sat where he was, staring at the ground.</p>
<p>“We should get back up to the forest,” Kravitz said finally, during a moment of silence between Davenport’s outbursts.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?!” Davenport demanded. “We have to-!”</p>
<p>“We have to get warm,” Kravitz interrupted, still shaking. “He was right, we’ll die if we don’t warm up and dry off.”</p>
<p>“He could be walking alone into a trap!” Davenport yelled, clearly looking for someone to be angry at.</p>
<p>“And he made the choice to do so,” Kravitz said, finally raising his own voice. “Whether he was right or not about it being a trap, whether he was right or not about us not being able to come with him, that doesn’t matter anymore! He’s already gone to do it! But he promised us he would come back safely, and I am inclined to believe him!”</p>
<p>Kravitz turned in a huff, starting up the ice staircase that still stood where Taako had made it. He was done arguing with Davenport, he didn’t want this to turn into a huge blowup. He just wanted to get himself warm and dry and clean, so that at least Taako would have people to come back to. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Show Yourself</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The glacier where the voice calls from, a warmth deep within, and the world remembers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The storm above him sounded like it was raging worse than ever, but the rain was falling in random sheets, and the lightning still was kept from striking. It was like nature was fighting itself… </p>
<p>The ship rocked with the choppy waves, but Taako stood unperturbed by it all, staring straight north and using his power to push the ship along. The further he got, the stronger the waves felt against the ice of the ship. Through the chaos of the rain, the crashing of the waves, the rocking of the ship, and the sudden sound of the ice ship cracking under the pressure, Taako heard the voice call, desperate.</p>
<p>“I can hear you,” he said calmly. “I hear you, and I’m on my way.”</p>
<p>He suddenly realized what must be happening.</p>
<p>“You can stop fighting it now, I’ll get there alright,” he said. “Rest until I get there.”</p>
<p>Suddenly, everything felt like it released at once. The rain fell like an ocean above him, lightning striking the ocean all around him, and the waves surged under him, cracking the ship in half. The sound was deafening, and he was thrown from the deck of the ship into the ocean.</p>
<p>He braced himself with a blast of magic, creating a bubble around him of thick ice. Under the water, he looked around and saw the light of the raging storm above. Pieces of the ice ship got shoved apart and sent in all directions. Taako kept his breathing calm as he looked around for where to go.</p>
<p>He saw a light under the water, then heard the voice call.</p>
<p>“That way?” he said quietly, not waiting for an answer before using his magic to propel himself toward the light. </p>
<p>The ocean around him surged again, and he felt it pushing him away.</p>
<p>“Stop!” he shouted, shooting magic in all directions to freeze the water in its place.</p>
<p>He then broke away the ice so he could climb to the top, seeing the still angry ocean around him. The ice began to crack and he quickly formed another ship, but this time he made it smaller. </p>
<p>To his surprise, the water around him seemed to be less choppy. It almost felt… Hesitant?</p>
<p>“I need to get to the glacier,” he said to no one, and he almost felt silly for talking to the ocean until it responded to him.</p>
<p>It lifted his boat up, moving it slightly closer to the direction of the glacier.</p>
<p>“Yes! There’s someone there that I need to help!” Taako said excitedly to the ocean. </p>
<p>Over him, the sky started to calm. The rain fell less and less until it fully stopped, and the water became much calmer. The wind blew north and caught the small sale of his ice boat.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” he sighed. He was so tired, he realized. He sat on the boat, letting himself have a few moments of rest.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>They were just inside the forest, still close enough to watch the beach of the North Sea, just in case. Davenport was pacing at the edge of the forest. Magnus was cooking fish he had caught for them all. Kravitz was finally warm again, curled up by the fire.</p>
<p>“It’s gone…” Davenport said. Kravitz looked over to him and he was standing still, staring at the horizon. “The storm, it’s… gone.”</p>
<p>“What?” Kravitz stood up and walked over to join him, looking out to the north. Sure enough, the storm that had been raging over the ship was gone. Kravitz wondered if the ship had gone with it…</p>
<p>“What does this mean?” Davenport said to himself. “If the storm is gone then…”</p>
<p>Kravitz left his side. He wasn’t in the place to ease his anxieties, he could barely keep his own eyes open. He returned to the fire with Magnus and replayed Taako and his last conversation again in his head. He had smiled and laughed when he said ‘of course’ to him. Like it was silly to think that he wouldn’t come back. He was strong, Kravitz reminded himself, he would return to them safely because he promised to. They hadn’t known each other for long, but Kravitz was sure Taako was not one to break a promise.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Seeing the glacier for the first time was like… It was nothing like he’d expected it to be. It wasn’t like seeing a grand palace, or a beautiful landscape. It felt as though this place was his, that this place was a part of him. It wasn’t quite like coming home to something or someone, but more like looking in a mirror and seeing yourself for the first time in years. This place was his, that was the thought that came first.</p>
<p>His small ship washed up to the icy shore of the glacier. As he stepped into the freezing water, he realized with surprise that he could actually feel how cold it was. Or, he could feel the cold for the first time. It seeped into his boots like the rain had, but now it made his toes cold. Distracted for only a moment, he walked to the giant wall of the glacier.</p>
<p>Inside it, lights were dancing around like crazy. Over all the others, the purple, green, and blue, orange was the brightest and most restless. Taako placed a hand on the side of the glacier, and the orange light bloomed around his hand. It was warm.</p>
<p>“I’m here now,” Taako said, feeling emotional out of nowhere. He couldn’t place why. “I can feel you in there, I’m coming to get you.”</p>
<p>The light got brighter, then formed a line down the center of his hand, up over his head and down to the ground. He pushed and the glacier opened like double doors.</p>
<p>In this first chamber of the glacier, Taako remembered the map of the glacier’s interior that the voice had shown him. He walked to the end of the strange hallway, lit from within with those magical lights dancing around him. He looked around when he touched the wall, confused.</p>
<p>“There’s supposed to be a door, isn’t there?” he said quietly. Running a hand across the wall, he walked back the way he came. He stood by the entrance to the hall a moment before calling to the voice with its four notes.</p>
<p>Orange light lit up beside him, forming an archway.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” he said, putting a hand there and moving the ice aside. “I’ll try not to ask for your help too much.”</p>
<p>The voice sang to him. The new hallway lit up with orange light, and he could see the jagged stairway down further into the glacier. He stepped forward and took a calming breath. He could do this, there was nothing to be afraid of now. No amount of fear would help him.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Pieces of the ice ship washed up onto the shore of the beach the next morning. Davenport and Magnus seemed distraught over this fact, fearing the worst. Kravitz looked at them quizzically, wondering how he’d made it further without the ship. He was no longer entertaining the idea that Taako hadn’t somehow made it to the glacier by now. He had promised to return, so he would. </p>
<p>Eventually Davenport declared they had to return to Arendelle. Magnus hung his head, as if something terrible had happened.</p>
<p>“Why?” Kravitz asked. He stoked their fire with a stick.</p>
<p>Davenport looked at him with the deepest expression of sympathy and sadness. “We have to return with the news…”</p>
<p>“Taako hasn’t come back yet,” Kravitz said sternly. “We have to stay and wait for him.”</p>
<p>“Kravitz…” Magnus said quietly.</p>
<p>“No, you don’t understand,” Kravitz said, standing up. “I’m not denying some fact you two have accepted, I’m stating the obvious. Taako promised he would come back safe, he hasn’t returned yet, and we need to be here when he comes back. We can’t go back to Arendelle yet.”</p>
<p>“The storm is gone and the ship is…” Davenport trailed off, looking back to the beach. “Kravitz, you have to face the truth.”</p>
<p>“The-” Kravitz felt anger bubble in his chest. “<em>You</em> two need to face the truth!”</p>
<p>They looked at him in surprise at his outburst. He wasn’t one to yell.</p>
<p>“He has magical powers! He can handle a storm like that, he could’ve just made another ship when the first broke, he probably made it to the glacier and stopped whatever was causing the storm!” Kravitz felt hot with rage. “He promised he would come back safe, he laughed at the idea that he wouldn’t, you know him better than this!”</p>
<p>Magnus stared at the ground. Davenport stared at Kravitz.</p>
<p>“… We can wait one more day, but…” Davenport said, looking back to the horizon. “At some point, if he doesn’t come back…”</p>
<p>“He will,” Kravitz said curtly.</p>
<p>Davenport glanced at him. “… Right.”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>He’d had to leave his cloak, his boots, and his vest. They were still wet and heavy, and he was doing an awful lot of jumping around and climbing down places to get lower in the glacier safely. He’d used his magic once, but the glacier had shuddered around him when he did so, in a way that made him feel like it would prefer him not doing that too much. </p>
<p>If he remembered the map correctly, he was almost to the third level of the glacier, the level with the huge inner chamber with the pillar in it. And if he remembered seeing that correctly, there was someone inside there waiting for him.</p>
<p>The more the orange light guided him, the more he felt a strange familiarity. Like he was supposed to remember what or who this light was. It led him further down this treacherous cavern, lighting the safe areas for him to climb down. He did so for a while before the orange light lit up the floor beneath him, now at a safe enough distance to jump down.</p>
<p>He hopped off the wall, huffing from the effort of climbing. The light illuminated huge ornate double doors, totally out of place for the rest of the area. It almost looked like the doors to the palace in Arendelle. As he walked up, the orange light got brighter.</p>
<p>He pushed the doors open and the room beyond them was pitch black. But as soon as he stepped inside, the ice around his foot lit the room with a bright glacial blue light. The room was domed, as it was in the map, and around him floated small circular sheets of ice. Through them he saw scenes that were suddenly clear in his mind.</p>
<p>Lup. His sister. Small and excited, asking to play in the ballroom. His sister, older now, talking with him in his room and getting upset at him. His sister, watching their parents leave with him on the docks. His sister’s scared face when he’d shot ice toward her on his coronation day. His sister, coming to save him only to be hit with ice by him again. His sister, wrapped in a blanket, asking him to look a the stars every night and think of her while she was gone investigating the glacier.</p>
<p>Lup was in there, fuck, Lup was in the-</p>
<p>The voice called, the pillar lit up bright orange, and Lup, his sister, stood rigid inside the pillar. Her eyes were shut like she was sleeping, but she stood with her hands clasped together. She was still wearing the clothes she had been wearing when she left.</p>
<p>Without a second thought, Taako reached out and touched the pillar. Its light got brighter, and it felt warm- no, hot to the touch. He held his hands up, curled them into fists, and pulled back as hard as he could.</p>
<p>The pillar shattered, icicles flying in all directions and sending him back onto his butt. The shock wave was sent through the glacier, turning it orange.</p>
<p>Lup, more alive that he’d ever seen her before, came running at him.</p>
<p>“Taako!” she shouted, tackling him with her familiar hug. </p>
<p>“L-Lup-” he stuttered, tears finally forcing their way out of him. He hugged her tight, feeling her warmth fill him up. “I- I thought-”</p>
<p>“I know, I’m sorry,” she said, tucking his head over her shoulder and pulling him impossibly closer. “I’m so sorry.”</p>
<p>“Why couldn’t I-?” Taako couldn’t even finish his sentences, his chest was caving in with his newfound sobs.</p>
<p>“The glacier had to,” she said, confusing him even more. “It was the only way for it to keep me for so long.”</p>
<p>“But why- wh-why did it need to keep you?” Taako held his sister like a child would hold their favorite toy, something so precious that no one else could have.</p>
<p>“I have magic too!” she said excitedly, pulling back slightly from their hug. </p>
<p>“What?” He stared into her eyes. They’d been a light brown before, but like his own eyes were blue as ice, hers were now a bright fiery orange. </p>
<p>“The glacier isn’t just the source of your magic,” she explained, moving away from him and pulling him up from the ground. “It’s the source of mine too!”</p>
<p>“But then… Why didn’t we know?”</p>
<p>“Because my powers are of fire, not ice,” she said, holding out a hand and sending a blast of fire out at nothing.</p>
<p>“Okay, explain what the hell is going on from the beginning please,” Taako said, reaching to hold his head. This was a lot to take in. His sister was alive, not dead, he’d known this but then been forced to forget by a magical glacier…</p>
<p>“You can sit down if you want,” she said.</p>
<p>He did sit, legs crossed, like he and Lup used to do when their parents would tell them a story.</p>
<p>“Okay, so first of all, the glacier is the source of both our power,” Lup started, pacing in front of Taako. She glanced and checked that he was following so far. “Your powers were innately ice, so they manifested naturally because of the cold climate up here. Mine were innately fire, so the cold suppressed them.”</p>
<p>Taako’s brows came together, but he nodded to show he was following.</p>
<p>“Back when you ran away from Arendelle and I went to find you, do you remember when you hit me with that blast?”</p>
<p>Taako winced. “Can’t forget it if I tried.”</p>
<p>“Well, technically you already did, but…” Lup muttered, then waved a hand. “Anyway, when I froze completely, my powers woke up a little to save my life.”</p>
<p>“Oh, the orange light-” Taako said.</p>
<p>“Exactly!” Lup exclaimed, smiling wide. “So, when you were melting the ice, you were probably amplifying my powers!”</p>
<p>“That’s crazy,” Taako said, staring at their warbled reflections in the ice below them.</p>
<p>“Right?! Okay, anyway, then the whole glacier thing happens.” She waved a hand around at the glacier around them. “I investigated the glacier with Magnus, climbed on top because I felt like I should, then the ice cracked open under me and I got <em>shwoop</em> swallowed by the glacier!”</p>
<p>Taako stared at her, somewhat concerned.</p>
<p>“I fell into some seriously freezing water and blacked out, but when I woke up I was in this chamber. It was full of water when I woke up. My powers woke up too, and started making the water warm up to keep me alive. Once I realized I not only had powers but that I had like heat and or fire powers, I turned all the water to steam and tried to find a way out.” Lup pointed to the door he’d come in from. “I blasted a hole through that wall and then the glacier started to fight back. I didn’t understand why at first, but it locked me in that pillar of ice and I had to constantly use my power to keep from freezing. I realized after a while that it wasn’t trying to kill me, I got the feeling it could’ve if it wanted to, it was trying to help me unlock my powers.”</p>
<p>Taako was still staring at her, becoming more and more concerned.</p>
<p>“I know it sounds crazy, but I promise, we started having almost-conversations while I was in there,” Lup said, pointing a finger at him. “I may have been locked in an ice pillar for two years, but I’m not crazy.”</p>
<p>Taako just nodded.</p>
<p>She squinted at him. “Anyway, after a while, I started realizing I could extend my senses through the glacier. I could see the ocean around it, feel the rain over it, etcetera. I found a way to amplify my senses using the glacier’s powers. That’s how I got in contact with you. I didn’t mean to take so long.”</p>
<p>Taako smiled at her sadly. “If it helps, I’d thought you had been dead since mom and dad.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, that pissed me off when I realized that,” she grumbled. “But the glacier had to find some way to keep you away while it worked its magic, literally.”</p>
<p>“So why did it let you call me back?” he asked.</p>
<p>“It didn’t want to,” she explained. “It didn’t think I was ready yet, and for a while I don’t think it knew it was you. I think when you blasted the ocean it realized who it was. After that, I convinced it that I was ready to go.”</p>
<p>Taako looked around the domed room. The lights were all dancing happily around now, calm. He looked back to Lup, who looked well rested, alert, and as strong as ever. Taako, on the other hand, felt exhaustion weighing him down. His eyelids were heavy, his arms and legs were sore from the difficult trip down here, and his head was slightly swimming with all this new information.</p>
<p>“Oh Taako,” Lup said, in the tone inherited from their mother. She smiled down at him, a look of sympathy. “You idiot, you didn’t take care of yourself very well getting here, did you?”</p>
<p>“To be fair, you kept me up a lot with your damn singing,” Taako said, rubbing his eyes. A laugh fell from his lips, then it dissolved into a fit of giggles. He was much more tired than he’d initially thought.</p>
<p>“Time was stupid in there,” she said, kneeling down in front of him. “Do you need a nap before we move on?”</p>
<p>Taako stared at the ground, seeing his reflection, warped and goofy. It made him laugh again.</p>
<p>“Okay, let’s say that’s a yes,” Lup chuckled. “There’s more to show you, now that you’re here, but you clearly need rest.”</p>
<p>Taako couldn’t even properly protest as she pulled him down to rest his head in her lap. All the tension and unease had left him, the anxiety drained out of him completely. All that was left was the light and fluffy elation, the knowledge that his sister was safe, that he was safe, that all the worry over meeting the voice was unnecessary. He couldn’t keep his eyes open, especially once Lup began to hum the song their mother used to hum to get them to fall asleep as children.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>It was almost nightfall, they were going to head back in the morning if Taako didn’t return by then. Kravitz watched the horizon, sitting near the fire for warmth. He knew Taako would come back. He promised.</p>
<p>Suddenly a bright orange light flashed in the distance. Kravitz blinked, wondering if he’d imagined it. Then a wave a force pushed him back into the brush. With it, memories came flooding back.</p>
<p>Lup. Kravitz knew her, personally, not just from the family paintings. She had gone to investigate the glacier. </p>
<p>He stood and watched the horizon. He made it, Kravitz realized, Taako made it to the glacier. Lup must’ve been in there, the person they were looking for was Lup. </p>
<p>Behind Kravitz, Davenport and Magnus stirred from their sleep. They’d been pushed by the wave too.</p>
<p>“Did you feel that?” Magnus said, looking around.</p>
<p>“Do you remember too?” Kravitz asked immediately, turning around to stare at them intently.</p>
<p>Davenport’s eyes cleared, all remnants of sleepiness gone. “Lup.”</p>
<p>“Oh my god,” Magnus choked, grabbing his chest. “I-I was there when-!”</p>
<p>They all watched the horizon for something, anything else. Kravitz felt it in his chest, they would come back safe. He almost felt like it was more certain than ever with Lup there. </p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Barry woke from a fitful sleep, feeling his whole bed jostle as he shot up in bed. His head hurt, his breathing was already fast, and he couldn’t see anything in the dark room around him. But he knew something, suddenly. He remembered something. Someone. Someone he can’t believe he forgot, someone he hadn’t realized was so important to him until he had forgotten her.</p>
<p>Lup.</p>
<p>The weight in his chest, that had been her. His had been heart heavy without her light personality, her bubbling giggles, her fiery temper, her overwhelming empathy. Somehow she had been taken from him, his mind. That was why he was unable to comprehend the ice palace, he realized suddenly. Everything he’d seen of it he’d seen with her. He was there because of her, the ice woods too.</p>
<p>It was clear now, there had been some kind of magic keeping him from remembering her and thinking of things having to do with her. Now that it all came back to him, for some unknown reason, he knew what he had to do.</p>
<p>Barry shoved the covers off him and he got up, lighting a candle so he could see. He threw on his glasses and went to his desk, taking a pencil and a spare piece of paper. He wrote his letter as fast as possible while making sure it was still legible. When he was done, he sat back and reread it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>His Royal Highness, King of Arendelle,</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Allow me the single privilege of greeting His Royal Highness through this humble letter. His Royal Highness surely is not one for pleasantries, so I shall omit them further. I am contacting His Royal Highness in search of an opportunity that may benefit Him. My mother was a researcher before she far too soon passed, and her work lies unfinished in my home. I have a latent certainty that her work could be finished, if not by me, then by His Royal Highness’ best researchers. The subject of her research was that of preservation of all kinds; nature, our roads, the sacred fjord, and other things I still have yet to uncover. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>If His Royal Highness saw it fit to do so, I would be greatly honored and forever indebted to His Royal Highness if He would allow me to continue my mother’s research for His Royal Highness’ great Kingdom of Arendelle. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>If His Royal Highness does not see it fit, His Highness should, by all means, request my mother’s research for His Royal Highness’ best researchers to use instead. There would be no greater honor than that of serving, in some way, this fine country to which His Royal Highness is sovereign.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I have the honor to remain,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>With much respect,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>His Royal Highness’ obedient servant,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Barold J. Bluejeans.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Was it kind of a lot? Maybe. But Barry hadn’t properly seen Taako for two years, he didn’t want to just walk into the palace and expect not to get some weird looks. The best way to approach this was to be as polite as humanly possible and hope for a response. </p>
<p>Barry got back in bed, deciding he would deliver it tomorrow. It wasn’t a letter that you could just drop with the mail carrier, it would surely get thrown out with a scoff. He had to take it to the palace and hopefully find Lucretia or Merle. They wouldn’t throw it out. They might read it first, but that was fair enough. Not many people were bold enough to send letters to the sitting king or queen. Barry just hoped Taako would take him up on his offer to continue his mother’s research. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this week!<br/>The drama!! Like I said at the beginning of the last chapter, the LAST THREE CHAPTERS will be posted on the 31st of January AT THE LATEST. I hope to post them earlier than that, but they will definitely be posted on the 31st. The last chapter, the epilogue, is going to be so much longer than I first thought, but that's a good thing because there's a lot of story to set up, if you can believe it... I have big plans for this AU in the future, this is not the end. Truly, it's only the beginning of the story I've always wanted to explore within the Frozen universe. Anyway, next weekend, the last three chapters will be posted!<br/>As always, thank you to everyone who reads my writing! You all keep me motivated to keep writing! Also, please let me know what you think so far!! I love reading your comments!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. All Is Lost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The twins play in the freezer, the others play cops and robbers with boats, and a big secret gets revealed.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry this is being posted so late. It's only the second week of the semester but I'm already swamped with work! I haven't finished the very last chapter yet, so it won't be posted with these other two chapters, but luckily it's just the epilogue. It's going to be super long, so look forward to it once I finish it! I promise to post it as soon as it's finished!! You still get two chapters today though! Please enjoy, and thank you so much for reading!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Warmth was not often something Taako felt. Merle had told him when he was young that his average temperature was naturally lower by about five degrees. Because of this, Taako was always oblivious to the cold until he was warm. Right now, he was warm. Enveloped in warmth all around him, it added to his sleepiness as he tried to wake up.</p>
<p>Lup still had his head in her lap when he opened his eyes. She was also still humming their mother’s song. She was preoccupied with braiding his hair when he woke, so he got to watch her calm face for a while. It had been so long since Taako had seen his sister. Now that he had his memories back he could see that she looked exactly the same as two years ago. There were no lines in her face, her eyes were still soft and bright when she looked at him, her hair was still perfectly done for the expedition. She had been kept perfectly preserved in the glacier. And Taako had only grown older in her absence.</p>
<p>“Taako!” she exclaimed suddenly, realizing he was awake. “Morning, sleepyhead! Have a good nappy?”</p>
<p>“You have no idea how much I needed that,” Taako said, still groggy.</p>
<p>“Sounds like it,” she giggled, helping him sit up. “Need water?”</p>
<p>“Maybe.”</p>
<p>Without a word, she blasted part of the ice floor they were still sitting on with fire, turning a small half-circle of it into a bowl of water. Taako snorted at it, then drew a line around it and pulled it out of the ice a fully formed bowl of water. </p>
<p>When he drank it, Taako felt something change inside him. Something that felt familiarly magical, a small burst of cold that turned warm and spread through his limbs. He looked at the bowl with a curious expression.</p>
<p>“What?” Lup asked, leaning over his shoulder to look at the now empty bowl.</p>
<p>“I think I just drank magic water,” Taako said, trying to decide if that was good or bad.</p>
<p>“Oh, right,” Lup muttered, looking around them at the ridiculously magical glacier they were still sitting in. “Uh, sorry?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we’ll find out,” Taako said, making a face into the bowl to see how the reflection warped. “Maybe you should drink some too?”</p>
<p>“I’m open to anything,” Lup said in mocking authority. Then she blasted another bowl. “Also, I haven’t had anything to eat or drink in two years.”</p>
<p>Taako lifted it out of the floor and handed it to her. “You’re still a woman of science though, shouldn’t we leave a control?”</p>
<p>“The control is everyone in Arendelle,” Lup said, taking the bowl. She drank it all in two gulps, then tossed the bowl down. “Though, wait-”</p>
<p>“Not everyone in Arendelle is magical, genius,” Taako sighed.</p>
<p>“Merle! Merle is the control!” Lup said with a smile. “Alright, enough about this, time to go backstage!”</p>
<p>“What?” </p>
<p>Lup grabbed Taako’s wrist and tugged him toward the back of the room.</p>
<p>“What do you mean, backstage?” Taako asked, looking around the room.</p>
<p>“While I was in the ice, I learned a lot about the glacier,” Lup started, running a hand along the wall as they walked beside it. “I made that map just by feeling around the glacier with my… brain? I dunno. The important thing right now is that there’s a room somewhere back here that the glacier said is used to see the truth.”</p>
<p>“See the truth?” Taako echoed, placing his own hand on the ice.</p>
<p>As soon as he did, the wall lit up with light in the shape of a door. Taako pushed on the wall with both hands and the doors formed and opened for them. Inside, there was a staircase that led down. Taako took one step into the room and the lights around them turned red, making both Taako and Lup falter.</p>
<p>“What is it?” Lup asked the glacier, looking around at the lights with concern.</p>
<p>Magic fog flowed from the walls suddenly, swirling and taking forms before them. A small version of Taako and Lup, made of fog, walked down the stairs that were just before them. Inside the room at the steps’ end, they were surrounded by small memories. Their fog counterparts then walked down another flight of stairs to a room that the glacier couldn’t recreate for them, simply surrounding the two fog people in a lighter layer of fog. They then walked further down, and suddenly little fog Taako began to freeze from the legs up, like Lup had not too long ago. Fog Lup ran back out of the room, and little fog Taako froze completely, falling to the real ground and shattering.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Lup said, eyes wide.</p>
<p>“Yeah, oh,” Taako said too, brows furrowed. “So, don’t go to the third level.”</p>
<p>The fog dissipated, and the light around them turned orange and yellow. Warning.</p>
<p>“Don’t go too deep, just like the lyrics of mother’s song,” Lup said to herself.</p>
<p>“There are lyrics to that song?” Taako turned to her, surprised.</p>
<p>“Yeah, but I can’t sing that well,” Lup said, shrugging. “I didn’t know it was a warning for… This.”</p>
<p>“Wait- Lup, why would mother know a song that warns us about this glacier?” Taako asked, and Lup stared back at him in shock.</p>
<p>“O-oh…” She then switched to an expression of deep thought, crossing her arms and looking nowhere in particular. “Maybe the glacier will tell us?”</p>
<p>Taako looked down the stairs in front of them. It was dark down there, too dark to really see anything. Rooms that would help them see the truth… What was waiting for them down there?</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Morning came, and the twins still hadn’t shown. With all their memories intact, Davenport was more than ready to wait as long as they needed to for the twins to return. Magnus and Kravitz, too, were willing to wait longer. But as fate would have it, something of much more importance came up while they ate their breakfast around the fire.</p>
<p>A hulking ship, painted black and steel gray, sailed into view of the North Sea beach. Davenport stood immediately, followed by Magnus and Kravitz. Before Kravitz could ask who it was, he saw the flag flying from the highest mast. The Rockseeker crest, with the kingdom’s name in calligraphy under it. Wave Echo Cove.</p>
<p>“What in the gods’ names is he doing this far north?!” Davenport demanded, fumbling for his pocket spyglass. </p>
<p>“Is he after the glacier?” Kravitz asked immediately, his heart speeding up at the idea.</p>
<p>“I doubt he knows about it,” Davenport said. “We cut ties with them after Taako’s coronation. Plus, only those within Taako’s inner circle know about the glacier’s existence.”</p>
<p>“That’s a relief, then,” Kravitz said with a small sigh. He afforded himself at least that bit of relief. If King Rockseeker didn’t know about the glacier, then he wasn’t out to destroy it. The gods knew what he would do if he found out about it…</p>
<p>“They see us,” Davenport announced. “Act as if we’re stranded.”</p>
<p>Kravitz gave him a confused look while Magnus immediately started waving his arms over his head to get the ship’s attention.</p>
<p>“We lost our ship in a freak storm,” Davenport said, directly to Kravitz this time. “We made it as far as the shore here until we realized we were going the wrong way, and we don’t know how to get back to Arendelle.”</p>
<p>“What?” Kravitz said, still not following.</p>
<p>“Our cover story,” Magnus muttered. “And the conversation you two are having right now is about accepting help from them.”</p>
<p>“Good thinking,” Davenport said, nodding. He looked up at Kravitz with a stern look. “If you think you can’t lie, don’t speak at all, I can cover for you.”</p>
<p>Kravitz was about to ask another question when Magnus cleared his throat. Men from the ship were lowering lifeboats and paddling their way over.</p>
<p>“They’re too close now, they’ll hear you,” Magnus said.</p>
<p>“But the staircase-!” Kravitz whispered in a panic.</p>
<p>Davenport looked to it, eyes wide. “Taako went looking for help, we haven’t seen him since.”</p>
<p>Kravitz made a desperate face and then hid it from the dwarven men now making their way to them, staring in confusion at the stairs.</p>
<p>They didn’t converse with those men, just getting in the boats and being taken back to the ship. Once there, they were given warm blankets made of slightly scratchy wool and warm drinks. Kravitz was grateful he could feel his fingers again. They were taken further into the ship to a warm room that looked like one used for tactical planning, with a large eight-sided table in the middle and seats around the edge of the room.</p>
<p>“Of all the things I thought I’d find this far north,” King Rockseeker said, stepping into the room from behind them a while after they’d been there. “I was not expecting Arendelleans!”</p>
<p>“We are so sorry and thankful that you and your men saved us, King Rockseeker,” Davenport said immediately, giving a polite bow to him.</p>
<p>“Was no trouble!” King Rockseeker said with a hearty laugh. “But I have to ask, what of your king? I saw the fancy ice, must’ve been him, yes?”</p>
<p>“It was,” Davenport said with a confused face. “He… He went to find help. Was he not the one who found and sent you?”</p>
<p>“Oh no, not at all,” King Rockseeker said with some surprise. “We were never contacted by anyone from Arendelle.”</p>
<p>Kravitz wanted to ask what he was doing this far north, ask why he was here in the first place and how he’d gotten past Arendelle’s navy, but that clearly had to wait.</p>
<p>“Well, I suppose that means our king is still missing at the moment,” Davenport said, looking to the ground in concern. “Thank you all the same.”</p>
<p>“Again, no trouble at all.” King Rockseeker walked to the back of the room to a drink cart, one properly his height. “Drinks, anyone?”</p>
<p>“I’ll have one,” Kravitz said, raising his hand slightly. </p>
<p>King Rockseeker looked over his shoulder, giving him a look he couldn’t decipher, then nodded and turned back to the drinks. “Very well!”</p>
<p>When Kravitz had his drink and everyone else sat down to talk, Davenport gave him a look. Kravitz sipped his drink pointedly and shook his head slightly. He knew what was going on here, he tried to convey. Rockseeker wouldn’t dare, not to a citizen of Goodcastle.</p>
<p>“So, your king is missing,” King Rockseeker said with a huff. “Should we look for him?”</p>
<p>“We told him we would wait for him to return with help,” Magnus said. “I think we should stay by the shore for now.”</p>
<p>King Rockseeker nodded, sipping his own drink. “Very well. You all should get some rest, you look like you’ve been through a lot. You can tell me how you got there, if you so choose, of course, later at dinner.”</p>
<p>“Thank you again for your hospitality,” Davenport said with sincerity. Kravitz couldn’t tell if it was feigned, which he supposed was the point.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The first room was filled with that same magical fog, just enough to brush against their ankles when they stepped into the room. Taako and Lup looked around the dark room, confused.</p>
<p>“Aren’t we supposed to see something?” Lup whispered to Taako, grabbing his arm. Something about this room was making her feel off.</p>
<p>“Maybe we need to ask it to?” he whispered back, glancing around the room. I was dark, the lights hadn’t followed them down, but he could still see it was much smaller than the room they’d just been in. Only about the size of his room back at the palace, though it was circular. Looking up, it wasn’t a dome like the others had been. The walls towered up and up until he couldn’t see the top anymore. The floor was the same solid ice as before. “Can you show us something?”</p>
<p>Nothing happened in response to his question. The fog barely moved when they weren’t blowing it around with their steps. Other than that, the room almost felt… cold. Taako found that unnerving.</p>
<p>“Maybe we need to trigger it a different way,” Lup said, letting go of his arm to go looking for any kind of mechanism they could activate.</p>
<p>Taako looked at the floor, trying to see anything through the fog. It had small designs in the center of the room, it looked like a swirling line made of snowflakes. He leaned down and brushed his fingers against the etchings. As he did, they lit up a bright blue. The light traveled inward toward the center of the spiral, until it reached the center and it flashed bright through the floor and walls.</p>
<p>“What did you do?” Lup asked, somewhat startled, coming back over to take his arm again. </p>
<p>“I touched the-” he started, but then the fog lifted up around them and fell again, leaving them in a room of ice statues.</p>
<p>The walls were glowing a low blue hue, illuminating the room just enough for them to see the statues were all… them. Specifically, Taako and sometimes Lup. One was them together, young, playing in the snow. Another, Taako alone, standing by a window. There were actually a few of those… But then, Taako on a balcony, overlooking mountains and a storm overhead. Taako and Lup laying in the wet grass where the snow had been melted. Taako and Lup standing on Lup’s balcony, looking up at the stars.</p>
<p>“Holy shit,” Lup breathed. “It’s like…”</p>
<p>“My memories,” Taako finished. “But this… This may be the truth, but it’s not what we’re looking for.”</p>
<p>“It’s what I’m looking for,” Lup said, walking to one of the statues of Taako looking out a window. “Is this what you did? While me and our parents were out doing things in the kingdom, or when you had alone time?”</p>
<p>Taako didn’t look at her, staring at the floor next to where their youngest selves were playing in the snow. “I did a lot of things by myself in my room, but… Yeah, mostly I waited for you to come back or wished… wished for mom and dad to miraculously come back safe…”</p>
<p>Lup crossed the room and hugged him tight. “I’m sorry you suffered so much by yourself like that…”</p>
<p>“No amount of- well, anything, will change that now.” Taako hugger her back, but then stepped away from her. “We need to see what else it can show us.”</p>
<p>“But if it can only show us our memories-” Lup started, but Taako cut her off.</p>
<p>“There was a second staircase, remember?” he said, looking to the wall across from the stairs they’d come down. “One more level down is still safe.”</p>
<p>Lup nodded, still somewhat unsure.</p>
<p>Taako put his hands on the wall and it lit up in the shape of doors again. He pushed them open and a sudden gust of wind made them both shiver. This could end really badly, he realized. They absolutely could not go any deeper than this next room, he reminded himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>King Rockseeker had his chef make them a grand meal to celebrate their safety and wish the King of Arendelle a safe return. It had plenty of meat, vegetables, and fruits, plus wine and ale. It all told Davenport that they had been planning for a long trip. To do what, he was still unsure. Kravitz and Magnus were sat on either side of Davenport at the table, eating as much as they could without looking too starved. </p>
<p>“So then!” King Rockseeker said, voice booming. “Tell me. How does the best naval captain in the north end up stranded on the black beach of the North Sea?”</p>
<p>“I thank you for the compliment,” Davenport laughed. “But I can’t control the weather.”</p>
<p>“Ah yes, I seem to remember hearing tell of a constant storm up north for a good while.” King Rockseeker took a sip of his wine. “So it was the storm that did your ship in?”</p>
<p>“Unfortunately it was far stronger than I had anticipated.” Davenport sipped his own wine. He also wondered where King Rockseeker had heard of a storm that didn’t have anything to do with his kingdom.</p>
<p>“May I ask what had you sailing so far north?” King Rockseeker asked casually. Davenport almost opened his mouth to recite their lie before realizing he had a better out. </p>
<p>“Actually, you may not,” he said, slightly surprising Magnus and Kravitz. But King Rockseeker nodded. “As a country that we no longer trade with, it doesn’t concern you. I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“I expected as much, all’s well,” King Rockseeker said with an easy smile. “Must’ve been important, though, if you took your king with you.”</p>
<p>“Above average importance, you could say,” Davenport said.</p>
<p>King Rockseeker eyed him a moment. “You know, the funniest thing happened recently… I woke up in the night and remembered someone.”</p>
<p>Davenport froze as he brought his cup to his lips, then continued with the action and acted normal.</p>
<p>“It seems something forced me to forget about Arendelle’s princess, Princess Lup.” King Rockseeker folded his hands under his chin, sitting forward on the table. “Would this trip have anything to do with that?”</p>
<p>Davenport searched for a way to answer, some way he could lie or spin it some other way. But he came up empty. He had no other choice than to answer honestly. “Yes.”</p>
<p>King Rockseeker nodded slightly, like he was satisfied with that answer. “If that’s all you can tell me, that’s alright. Just would like to know it wasn’t my old age getting to me.”</p>
<p>“Oh, Your Highness, you have many years before your age gets to you,” Davenport said with a smile.</p>
<p>King Rockseeker laughed heartily, grabbing his cup. “Cheers to that!”</p>
<p>“Cheers,” Davenport said with everyone else.</p>
<p>For now, it seemed like the tension was eased. But it was sure to come back up later, especially once Taako and Lup came back. </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The next room was darker than the last, colder too. Taako found himself tucked into himself, clutching his arms to try and find some warmth. Lup, too, looked chilly, though markedly less so. The fog in this room was higher than the last room, up to their waists. Taako walked through the fog, to what he assumed was the middle of the room. Beneath him, he felt this room’s etchings under his bare feet.</p>
<p>Blue light illuminated under the fog, turning it all a bright blue. Again, it flashed through the floor and up the walls, taking the fog up with it. Then the fog dropped, and before them stood two people that knocked the wind out of the twins.</p>
<p>“M-mother-” Lup whispered, tears already obscuring her vision.</p>
<p>“Father,” Taako said quietly, staring at their faces, formed of ice.</p>
<p>They didn’t move, but they stood tall like they had when they got their royal portrait done. Around the twins, more statues of their parents stood, some frozen in motion. One specific one made it feel like their hearts were being stabbed out. It was of the day they left, never to return again. Taako saw this memory and instantly wished he had hugged them, held them just a moment longer. </p>
<p>“T-Taako, what’s this one?” Lup asked. When he looked, she was standing be a statue of their mother at a desk. She looked young, so young that she couldn’t have even been married to their father yet. She was dressed in expensive clothes, but clearly not royal. On the desk, where their mother was leaning over, writing intently, was a letter.</p>
<p>The letter was about her life, things she had done that month, a normal letter to a friend, but the top line was addressed to someone they’d never heard of before.</p>
<p>“Paloma?” Lup read slowly. “Who’s Paloma? Someone mother knew when she was young?”</p>
<p>“The statues don’t move, she hasn’t finished the letter yet, I don’t know…” Taako looked around for any other leads, but it was all just their parents’ lives. There were a few statues of their parents as children, playing around or skinning their knees or something. Taako tucked the statue of his parents on their wedding day deep in his heart. He loved their smiling faces, he didn’t want to see anything else of them. “What if I just peeked into the next room-”</p>
<p>“No, Taako!” Lup said instantly, slapping his arm. Her teeth her chattering. “You saw the- vision or whatever, you’ll freeze!”</p>
<p>“Just for a moment, just long enough to get some actual answers!” Taako started walking to the opposite wall. Lup grabbed his hand, stopping him.</p>
<p>“To what questions?” she asked, searching his eyes with her newly fiery orange ones.</p>
<p>Taako struggled to find an answer to her question, looking around the room. “I-I don’t… I just feel like there’s something we don’t know about mother and father. I mean, why do we have magic? Why is the glacier the source of it? What is the point of knowing this if we don’t know everything else?”</p>
<p>“There are some things that should be left as secrets, Taako,” Lup said quietly. “There’s a reason it’s too cold to traverse, down there. Things buried that deep ought to stay there, right?”</p>
<p>“I disagree,” Taako said, gently taking his hand from her. “Secrets only make things worse, more complicated. Look where my secret got you, got both of us. I have no idea how to talk to people, you had to grow up without me, we had to grow up without each other. I don’t believe keeping secrets is ever worth it, Lup. And if they’re our family’s secrets, we deserve to know them.”</p>
<p>Lup stared at him, conflicted. She couldn’t decide which side to take here, she was torn between wanting to protect her brother and also wanting answers to those questions. Eventually she sighed and looked to the ground. “Alright, but only long enough to get answers.”</p>
<p>“If I start to freeze even a little, we leave,” Taako promised.</p>
<p>Satisfied enough with that answer, Lup took Taako’s hand and they both pushed the next set of doors open. They walked down the stairs into the nearly pitch black room, and Taako could immediately tell that this room worked differently than the others. Mainly because the fog filled the whole room up, all the way over their heads. It felt strange to breathe, and it was colder than anything Taako had ever felt before. He was shivering only moments after entering the room, hand still firmly grasping Lup’s.</p>
<p>He moved forward slowly, sweeping out his leg to feel for any etchings. There were none, and that made him nervous. </p>
<p>“Th-there a-aren’t any etchings in this r-room,” he said, stepping back to be next to Lup.</p>
<p>“It m-must activate s-s-some other way,” she said, trying to see through the fog.</p>
<p>Taako got an idea, one that had no scientific basis at all other than the glacier sometimes answered their questions when they asked. So, he tried it.</p>
<p>“Who is Paloma?” he asked aloud, and immediately the fog shifted. Through it they could see two figures, one tall and slender, one petite and robust. They couldn’t quite see them, but these ones were moving and talking.</p>
<p>“I-is th-th-that-!” Lup said suddenly. “Mother?”</p>
<p>Taako tried to step forward, to try to hear them, but as soon as he did his foot froze in place.</p>
<p>“Taako!” Lup shouted, pulling him back. His foot remained frozen, but nothing else froze.</p>
<p>“I can’t hear them,” he said, trying to pull himself free from Lup’s hold.</p>
<p>“You’ll freeze, stop!” she told him, pulling him back toward the stairs.</p>
<p>“Lup, just a little closer!” he protested. He suddenly pulled himself free and fell back against the ice.</p>
<p>He was close enough now and could just barely hear them.</p>
<p>“…loma, it’s been so lon…” his mother’s voice said distantly. His leg began to freeze, along with his back and left arm, which were against the ground. “…aven’t seen you in some time…”</p>
<p>Lup grabbed his frozen ankle, tugging him away.</p>
<p>“I was busy!” the other figure said, a woman’s voice that sounded similar to their mother’s. “I can’t always leave Good…visit my sister…”</p>
<p>Taako felt his chest freezing as Lup pulled him finally away. She lit her hands up with fire and held them to his chest, thawing him out slowly.</p>
<p>“She had a sister,” Taako said as soon as he could breathe again.</p>
<p>“What?” Lup faltered in her work for just a moment.</p>
<p>“Paloma, I think that was mother’s sister.”</p>
<p>Lup said nothing as she helped him up, pulling him out of the room and up the stairs.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know, if there’s some magic shenanigans, I’d like to know about it,” King Rockseeker said calmly.</p>
<p>He and Davenport were sitting in the room with the tactical map again. Just them two, in the candlelight, as the ship rocked slowly. </p>
<p>“I’d like to know what you’re doing up here,” Davenport said boldly. “Like to ask why you’re in sacred water after being banned from it, and how you got past Arendelle’s navy.”</p>
<p>King Rockseeker huffed, looking up at him from his glass. “How about we flip a coin?”</p>
<p>“Tails,” Davenport said as King Rockseeker took out a Wave Echo Cove coin and flipped it. They watched it flip and land on the table.</p>
<p>“Heads. Lucky me,” King Rockseeker said, then tucked the coin back in his pocket.</p>
<p>“We were investigating some possibly magical occurrences in the forest,” Davenport said with a sigh. “We got caught in a storm on our ship and it crashed into the cliff side, forcing us on land. After that, we tried to keep investigating, but eventually decided to turn back. But, as it turns out, we got turned around and ended up all the way north at the shore of the North Sea.”</p>
<p>“Quite the turnaround,” King Rockseeker said, raising his eyebrows.</p>
<p>“Like I said, there’s some kind of magic in those woods,” Davenport said. He was glad he seemed to be convincing. “Anyway, King Taako decided to go find help since he was the only one who could walk in the water itself. He still hasn’t come back.”</p>
<p>“Hm,” King Rockseeker hummed. “What about the princess?”</p>
<p>“What about her?” Davenport said with a sigh. “It wasn’t just you that forgot her, it was all of us. We didn’t know about her until we were already in the woods.”</p>
<p>“Curious,” King Rockseeker said, looking thoughtful. “Do you know where she is?”</p>
<p>“No,” he said honestly. Well, he had a theory, but there was no way to confirm that until Taako got back. “So what about you? What are you doing up here?”</p>
<p>King Rockseeker looked up at him over his drink. He pursed his lips for a moment before speaking. “I admit, I’m breaking the rules by being up here.”</p>
<p>“That’s an understatement,” Davenport said lowly.</p>
<p>“But to answer your question, I would say…” He lifted his glass and looked at the ice, jostling his cup to make them clack together. “Hunting.”</p>
<p>“Hunting what?”</p>
<p>“Who,” King Rockseeker corrected. “I suppose, since I’m already found out, I’ll just tell you and get it over with. I was looking for your king, and apparently his sister too. Magic is a sickness that must be snuffed out.”</p>
<p>“I should’ve expected as much from you,” Davenport sneered.</p>
<p>“Not the tone I’d take with me,” King Rockseeker said gruffly, sitting back in his chair. “Prisoners are encouraged to speak kindly to their captors, lest they be punished.”</p>
<p>“Is that a threat?” Davenport demanded.</p>
<p>“Not at all, sir.” King Rockseeker smiled at him. “But if you don’t want to be thrown overboard into the ocean with your two lackies, then watch your tone in the future.”</p>
<p>Davenport hardened his gaze.</p>
<p>“That one,” King Rockseeker said with a chuckle. “That one was a threat.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. All Is Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The twins return, the others are found safe and sound, and Barry gets a new job.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How did you climb this on your own?” Lup asked as they walked up the stairs Taako had made for them. The glacier seemed fine with them using magic inside it now, either because they drank glacial water or because they went into the deeper rooms. “I mean, I know I helped with the lights, but this is a massive wall.”</p>
<p>“Why do you think I needed a serious nap after?” Taako asked back. He added to the staircase so they could reach the top, having made a zig-zag pattern up the wall to save space. </p>
<p>They walked through the rooms he’d come through, the large room with giant platforms he’d had to jump across, the room of slippery ice that functioned like a slide, the other wall he’d had to climb down, the giant gap he’d made a bridge over, and then finally the jagged stairs leading up to the first hallway. The whole way, Taako made them walkways and staircases, and a ladder once he got smart about the tall wall. </p>
<p>When they finally stepped into the light of the morning, Taako and Lup both took a deep breath of the cold, clear air. </p>
<p>“You came here in that?” Lup said, noticing the small ice boat on the shore.</p>
<p>“The storm took out my ship I made, I needed something smaller and less breakable,” Taako explained. He raised his hands and turned the small boat into a ship again. He walked over and stood tall and official-looking, bowing with a flourish. “Your vessel awaits, My Lady.”</p>
<p>Lup snickered and shoved him aside as she boarded the ship. Taako followed her, coming to stand on the deck, leaning over the side of the ship to look out at the horizon.</p>
<p>“I guess now’s as good a time as any,” Taako said, turning to face his sister and lean on the railing of the ship. “Davenport, Magnus, and Kravitz are waiting back at the beach.”</p>
<p>“What?” Lup blinked at him. She then crossed her arms and looked thoughtful. “Oh, so they’re the others you brought. I was confused, I couldn’t tell who was with you.”</p>
<p>“We need to get back to them as fast as possible, they had to wait all night for me.”</p>
<p>“We better get moving then.” Lup leaned over the side of the railing to look at the glacier and sang those four notes to it. “We need some help here! Push us back to shore?”</p>
<p>The glacier illuminated a bright orange and they immediately felt the ocean under them shift.</p>
<p>“Thanks!” she called to it, waving. </p>
<p>The ship moved fast, the wind blew the twins’ hair around. Taako watched the horizon as they got closer. Lup shut her eyes and reveled in the feeling of the wind on her skin, the cold ice against her hands, the sun warming her up. She forgot how much you could feel just standing completely still. She had missed that, she realized. </p>
<p>“Oh no,” Taako breathed.</p>
<p>Lup opened her eyes and looked where Taako was staring. Two years in a pillar of ice had definitely muddled her memory, because it took her nearly a minute to remember what the flag on top of the ship was. Wave Echo Cove. Rockseeker.</p>
<p>“Oh gods, really?” Lup groaned.</p>
<p>Before they had a chance to do anything, the ship suddenly fired on them. The twins both shouted in surprise as a cannonball slammed through the ice of the ship, sending shards up and into the ocean. Taako gripped his sister’s hand, uncertain what was going on.</p>
<p>“Fire again!” a voice shouted from Rockseeker’s ship.</p>
<p>This time, when the cannonball was fired at them, Taako shot back and caught it. It fell into the water below, encased in ice.</p>
<p>“Rockseeker!” Taako shouted. “Stop this! You’re trespassing in sacred water!”</p>
<p>“Sacred to you, King of Arendelle!” King Rockseeker shouted back. “We don’t believe in your gods, and it doesn’t matter anyway! You’ll surrender yourself to me or your precious Naval Captain, Royal Guard, and Fancy Lad will be thrown overboard!”</p>
<p>“You-!” Taako was fuming, feeling the anger in his face and chest. “You’ll pay for this, Rockseeker!”</p>
<p>“Is that a threat, Your Highness?” the dwarven king asked with a chuckle.</p>
<p>Another cannonball shot at them, and this time Lup was the one to stop it. She shot fire from her free hand, incinerating it before it could hit them.</p>
<p>“Rockseeker!” Lup shouted, as Taako had before. “You’ll face charges of attempted regicide if you keep this up!”</p>
<p>“Good!” he shouted back, and his men fired again.</p>
<p>Taako and Lup both stopped the third cannonball, catching in in a messy mixture of fire and ice until it lost momentum.</p>
<p>“Fine,” Lup growled. “He’s giving us no choice.”</p>
<p>“He never had a choice,” Taako said darkly. “I was over with him the last time we saw each other. Let’s kill the fucker.”</p>
<p>“Wh- no!” Lup slapped his arm. “We’re arresting him, not killing him!”</p>
<p>“Why not?” Taako groaned. “He’s an asshole who’s trying to kill us! He just threatened to kill our friends!”</p>
<p>“And he still deserves a chance!” Lup’s determined gaze didn’t waver, she stood firm.</p>
<p>Taako opened his mouth to protest again, but another cannonball shattered part of the ship below them. They could feel it sinking now, they had to get moving.</p>
<p>“Fine, I’ll go easy, but if he provokes me I make no promises,” Taako conceded, turning back to face the ship.</p>
<p>“Good enough,” Lup said with a nod.</p>
<p>They jumped over the side together after a running start. Before they hit the water, Taako created a platform for them to land on. They ran toward the ship on the ice he made them, dodging the occasional cannonball. Once they were at the ship, Taako lifted the platform they were stood on until they could step over the railing. Rockseeker’s men were ready, swords in hand.</p>
<p>Just before the chaos could start, the door to the lower decks burst open. Magnus, Davenport, and Kravitz ran onto the deck and noticed the twins.</p>
<p>“Taako! Lup!” Davenport exclaimed, smiling wide. “Thank the gods!”</p>
<p>“Princess, Your Highness-!” Magnus said, stopping himself from running to hug them both. He had to focus on getting everyone home safe first.</p>
<p>Kravitz, however, was just staring at Taako with wide eyes. Taako could see the wave of relief that flooded his tired frame.</p>
<p>“Kill them!” King Rockseeker yelled, causing his men to jump into action.</p>
<p>Taako slammed his foot down on the deck of the ship, spreading a thin layer of ice out and making the men slip. The ice avoided where Magnus, Davenport, and Kravitz were standing. Rockseeker’s men slipped for a moment, a few even fell down, but many of them caught themselves and stayed standing. King Rockseeker let out a gruff laugh.</p>
<p>“I’ve outfitted my men with spiked boots! They won’t be slipping on your ice, sorcerer!” he shouted from where he stood on the highest part of the deck, next to the wheel.<br/>Taako was done with conversing with this man, so instead he simply made himself and Lup some ice skates and lunged toward the closest man with a sword. The man swung at him and Taako ducked, spinning gracefully around to his back and forcefully shoving a palm into his back, freezing his clothing so he couldn’t move. He fell with a clunk onto the ice covering the deck and squirmed to try and free himself.</p>
<p>Lup skated toward King Rockseeker, dodging the soldiers on the way. She was almost to the stairs up to him when one of the soldiers grabbed her from behind, barring his arm across her shoulders and wrapping another around her waist, pinning her arms down at the elbows.</p>
<p>“I assume you’ve found some kind of magical ice as well,” King Rockseeker said to her, stepping down the stairs slowly. “Shame. Such a shame to loose such a beautiful woman.”</p>
<p>Lup grabbed the man’s arm and started channeling warmth into her hands. She heard a sizzle when he finally let go of her, jumping back.</p>
<p>“Actually,” she said, glaring at King Rockseeker. “I’ve found my magic manifests in a much more destructive way.”</p>
<p>She saw his eyes widen just before she lit her hands, singing the ends of her sleeves.</p>
<p>“Surrender now and I promise we’ll go easy on you,” she said, her bright orange eyes flickering like the flames licking up her hands. </p>
<p>He stared, stunned, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Blinking quickly and stammering, his expression went from aghast to enraged. “M-magic is a disease! I’ll rid the world of you dangerous creatures!”</p>
<p>Lup sighed. Then she squared her shoulders, steeled her gaze, and spun around to stop another soldier from swiping at her. She threw a hand up and the fire around it flared. The soldier dropped his sword, now in two pieces, to the ground. Lup had burned right through the tempered metal of the sword. She was well angry enough now.</p>
<p>On the other side of the deck, Taako had built Davenport, Magnus, and Kravitz a wall to hide behind. He was skating around the soldiers, who apparently could only take slow and careful steps. Taako froze the feet of a few soldiers to keep them in place, and was now trying to take their swords from them all. Magnus and Davenport jumped out from behind the wall and started helping Taako disarm them. Kravitz stayed safe behind the wall, too tired to do anything helpful. </p>
<p>Taako weaved around a few soldiers, but suddenly got tripped up by one that swung his sword down to break the ice on the deck. Taako groaned loud, and stood himself back up.</p>
<p>“Enough!” he shouted. The wind around them picked up all of the sudden, making his braid whip around him. Snow fell from a cloud that had formed above the ship and soon enough they were in the middle of a blizzard. Taako turned and jabbed a finger in the direction of the king on the highest deck. “Call them off, Rockseeker!”</p>
<p>“I’ll never stop, you’re monsters, all of you!” King Rockseeker yelled over the wind, though he looked terrified.</p>
<p>“Well, I’m running out of patience,” Taako growled. He shot a hand out, forming a slope that hardened into a slide of ice, stopping right at King Rockseeker’s feet. He then flipped his hand around and pulled it toward himself and a blast of wind threw the king forward onto the ice and down the slide. He came to a stop right at Taako’s feet and looked up at him, his expression growing increasingly more horrified. “I won’t kill you because my sister asked me not to, but know that, after everything you’ve done to my kingdom’s waters and the threats you’ve made to my family, you deserve much worse than what you’ll face. Give yourself over to us and you’ll never have to see us again.”</p>
<p>The king stared at him, unable to speak.</p>
<p>“A coward, hm? After all that talk?” Taako sneered, feeling drunk on this man’s fear of him. He turned to face the soldiers that were waiting to see what happened. “This is your king! A coward in the face of what he thinks is his greatest enemy.”</p>
<p>“You’ve lost, Rockseeker,” Lup said. She walked over to stand by Taako, her footsteps melting away the ice on the deck. “This is already going to be a messy affair, we can’t let you get away with what you’ve done. But we can avoid war if you admit you’ve lost this fight.”</p>
<p>“Lup-!” Taako started, turning to face his sister only to be met with a hand to shut him up.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to start a war, Rockseeker,” Lup said to the cowering king. “You know it’s a war you cannot win.”</p>
<p>King Rockseeker’s face was turning red, and his horrified expression was morphing into a furious one. “E-every one of you… I-I won’t stop until every one of you… Terrible monsters is dead!”</p>
<p>Lup glared down at him. “Do you mean to declare war on Arendelle, then?”</p>
<p>King Rockseeker opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Taako wanted to antagonize him again, tell him he was too scared to start a war that would cause his country to fall further into ruin, a true coward who would have to return to his kingdom with his tail between his legs. But he barely, barely kept himself in check, and only because Lup still wore an extremely serious expression.</p>
<p>“Speak,” Lup demanded, her voice more commanding than Taako had ever heard their father’s voice be.</p>
<p>“Yes!” King Rockseeker said, shuffling away and finally standing up. “I-I am… declaring war on… on all magical beings not from this world! If that inc-cludes Arendelle, then so be it!”</p>
<p>“Fine,” Lup sighed. “Then run home and prepare your armies. Arendelle will rain the full force of our navy upon you and your ships. Consider that a promise, sir.”</p>
<p>Lup put a hand on Taako’s shoulder and nodded to him. He sighed and turned to create a new ship for them to leave on. Magnus had made a pile of swords and was standing protectively by Kravitz with Davenport. Lup waved them over and they all slowly boarded the new ice ship. King Rockseeker stepped back and away from the twins, brushing his clothes off. He looked frazzled, like he hadn’t realized how powerful they really were. Good, Taako thought, let him be afraid.</p>
<p>“If we ever have the displeasure of seeing you again, I won’t be so merciful,” Lup spat. She then turned around and grabbed Taako’s arm to bring him with her to board the ship with everyone else. </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>They saw King Rockseeker’s ship off, following close behind and making sure they left Arendelle’s waters. As the ship pulled up to the docks, the citizens of Arendelle were overcome with happiness to see their monarchs safely returned home. People cheered as they all stepped off the ice ship. </p>
<p>Taako noted that the largest Royal vessel they had left on was sitting tied to the dock.</p>
<p>“Did you put the ship back?” Taako asked Lup, motioning to the ship.</p>
<p>“Oh, yeah,” Lup said sheepishly. “I didn’t want to loose it, you know?”</p>
<p>“Oh! Lup!” Lucretia gasped. She had run out of the palace when she heard the cheering, only to suddenly be overcome with tears at the sight of the twins. “Thank the gods, you’re back home safe!”</p>
<p>She ran over and immediately crushed Lup in a hug. Taako was about to laugh when he was pulled in as well, squished against Lucretia’s chest with his sister.</p>
<p>“I was s-so worried ab-bout you both!” she sobbed, all preservation of her professional image gone. She sniffled over and over, finally pulling back from the hug to wipe her nose on her sleeve. “I-I can’t believe I couldn’t r-remember you, Lup!”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it,” Lup laughed. “We can explain everything once we get some time to rest.</p>
<p>“Oh yes, yes, you all need to rest,” Lucretia said, nodding fast and gently taking their arms. She turned and saw the others, making a sorry face at them. “Look at you all, absolutely incapable of taking care of yourselves on your own! Get inside, I’ll get you all tea and blankets!”</p>
<p>The twins shared a confused look at Lucretia’s suddenly being super affectionate. They’d always known she was fond of them, they’d always felt she was part of their family, but she had always been reserved and quiet. She kept a professional air that they assumed stuck around until she was alone, maybe even when she was by herself. For her to be acting so emotional, Lup worried about how she was doing now that everyone realized they had forgotten her.</p>
<p>They all made their way to the palace, all the while waving to the citizens who were still celebrating their return. It wouldn’t be until dinner that they would be able to fully explain to Lucretia and Merle what all had happened. All things considered, they took it rather well. Merle added some interesting information, however.</p>
<p>“That must’ve been what was causing Barry’s issues with the ice palace,” he said, his face full of recognition.</p>
<p>“What?” Lup said, sitting up straighter. “Barry’s issues?”</p>
<p>“His mind was- well, there’s no better way to put it but melting after he was investigating the ice palace,” Merle explained.</p>
<p>“Oh my god, is he alright?” Lup asked, setting her silverware down.</p>
<p>“He is now, he was sent home to rest after I fixed him up,” Merle said. “I wonder how he is…”</p>
<p>“Oh, we received a letter from him recently,” Lucretia said suddenly. Everyone turned to her. “It was addressed to Taako, so I didn’t want to open it for you.”</p>
<p>“I’ll look at it tomorrow,” Taako said, wearing a confused expression. “I wonder what it’s about?”</p>
<p>“It can’t be something pressing, he would come to the palace if it was,” Lup said, going back to eating her dinner. Truthfully, she was worried about how he was doing after all this nonsense.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The next day, Taako read Barry’s letter and laughed to himself at Barry’s over-politeness. He showed it to Lup, who got extremely excited at the idea of Barry being their newest Royal Researcher, and then they both sent for him. While they waited for him to arrive, the twins sat down with Merle to talk about the other things they’d learned within the glacier.</p>
<p>“A sister?” Merle said, glancing between them.</p>
<p>“That’s what I was able to gather from what I heard,” Taako said, sipping his tea. “I was wondering if you knew anything about it.”</p>
<p>Merle didn’t answer immediately, looking down at the table between him and the twins. To Taako, that was all he needed to confirm his suspicions. Merle eventually sighed and scratched at his head. “Well, I did know about your mother’s sister. But I haven’t spoken to her since your parents…”</p>
<p>Taako nodded and set his tea down. </p>
<p>“Do you know where she lives?” Lup asked, excited at the idea of having some living family member somewhere.</p>
<p>“As far as I know, she lives in the Kingdom of Goodcastle. She may have moved since then, but that’s the best I can give you,” Merle said.</p>
<p>“That’s plenty of information, thank you Merle,” Taako said.</p>
<p>“No problem at all, Your Highness,” Merle said as he got up.</p>
<p>After Merle left the room, Taako sighed, making Lup look at him.</p>
<p>“Everything okay?” she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>“I had something I wanted to talk to you about,” Taako said, making a conflicted face.</p>
<p>“Something serious?” Lup turned on the couch so that she was facing him fully, pulling her right leg up onto the couch. </p>
<p>“Yeah, something big,” he said, nodding and turning to face her the same way. “I was thinking about… Everything. What happened recently, it made me start thinking about a lot of stuff.”</p>
<p>Lup reached and took his hands in her own. “You can talk to me about anything.”</p>
<p>“I think I want to abdicate the throne,” Taako said, somewhat in a rush because of the anxiety that was building in his chest. Once the sentence got out, the air felt thick with the same anxiety. He slowly looked up at Lup’s face the longer she was quiet, worried about her reaction. Her face was frozen in shock. “Lup?”</p>
<p>She blinked, snapping herself out of her surprise. “Uh- wh-why?”</p>
<p>“I just…” Taako looked back down to his lap. “I never wanted that kind of responsibility, especially not after losing mother and father. I don’t think I’m a very good king, I keep overhearing Lucretia reading the surveys of the citizens and how unsure they are about what kind of king I am and-!”</p>
<p>“Taako,” Lup said. When he looked up, she was smiling sympathetically at him. “Could it just be that your anxiety is making it hard for you?”</p>
<p>“I mean, yes,” he said, glancing away from her eyes. “I-it’s just… I don’t think it’s a healthy amount of anxiety. It keeps me up at night, you know? I keep trying to do better, but I keep wanting to just stop for a week just so I can feel like I can breathe again.”</p>
<p>Lup’s smile faded, and she squeezed his hands slightly. </p>
<p>“I just want to be able to live my life, figure out who I want to be… Maybe it’s selfish to think of it like that, but I just… Nothing about it feels right anymore. Not since I remembered you.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” Lup asked, turning over his hands and pressing her thumbs into his palms, keeping her eyes on his downcast face.</p>
<p>“I-I mean… When I was the last member of our family, it wasn’t allowed to be a question of whether I could be a good king. I just had to be king. But now, I remember that if I really wanted to or had to that I could… Ugh, it sounds incredibly selfish when I say it out loud.” Taako shook his head, pulling his hands from his sister and pulling his braid over his shoulder to worry the end of it.</p>
<p>“It’s okay to be selfish, Taako,” Lup said, folding her hands in her lap. She sighed. “If you’re finding it detrimental to your health, then it would be a better idea to step back.”</p>
<p>“But it’s not fair to you, I was the one who mother and father spent years teaching how to rule, you didn’t even get half that schooling.”</p>
<p>Lup pursed her lips, thinking. “How have you been sleeping while I’ve been gone?”</p>
<p>Taako looked up at her. “Badly.”</p>
<p>She eyed his skinny arms. “Eating?”</p>
<p>“Barely.”</p>
<p>“Working?”</p>
<p>“Constantly.”</p>
<p>“You don’t handle anxiety and stress very well,” Lup sighed.</p>
<p>“You’re just realizing that now?” Taako countered, raising an eyebrow. “But this is what I’m talking about, I don’t think this whole thing is good for me, and by extension the kingdom. But it still isn’t fair to you to ask you to take over.”</p>
<p>“Well, here’s my idea,” Lup started, sitting up straight and pulling her other leg up to sit cross-legged. Though, it was under her dress so it just looked like a mess of fabric.</p>
<p>“Your idea?” Taako blinked at her.</p>
<p>“You and a tutor teach me everything I’ll have to know as fast as possible, I’ll dedicate all my time to studying, and then once I’m far enough along you can hand over the throne to me,” Lup said, nodding like it had already been decided.</p>
<p>Taako stared at her. “Are you serious?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” she said with a determined look. “If abdicating the throne is what you feel would be best for your health, then it’s what you should do. I know I can handle it once I learn what I need to know, and there’s nothing wrong with saying that you can’t.”</p>
<p>A small smile formed on Taako’s face. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. “But like, you’re serious, serious?”</p>
<p>“Absolutely,” Lup said. “However, I do believe you’re leaving something out of this.”</p>
<p>Taako’s smile vanished. “Oh?”</p>
<p>Lup nodded, giving him a hard glare. “You’re leaving out another motivator for giving up the throne, aren’t you?”</p>
<p>His gulp was all she needed as proof. </p>
<p>Lup eyed her brother for a long moment before speaking again, this time with a devilish grin. “It’s the gorgeous ambassador, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>Taako’s face instantly turned pink and he shoved her shoulder. “Shut up!”</p>
<p>“It is!” she laughed.</p>
<p>“Shut up!” Taako said again, covering his face. “So what if it is?!”</p>
<p>“Aw, Koko, why didn’t you say that first?” Lup crooned, pulling her brother into a hug. “I’ll do anything if it means you can be with the man of your dreams!”</p>
<p>“Stop it, he’s not-!” Taako huffed, giving into the hug quickly despite his embarrassment. “It’s just… We can’t be together if I’m essentially his boss.”</p>
<p>“Well, you’re not his boss, but you are the leader of his host country,” Lup said thoughtfully. “So yeah, I get what you mean. Is he that into you?”</p>
<p>“You should’ve seen his face when we were joking around, or when he was excited he was going to be able to make me tea, or when he was sad he wouldn’t be able to, or when-”</p>
<p>“I get it,” Lup said, rolling her eyes. But she hugged Taako tighter. “Sounds like you really like him too.”</p>
<p>Taako was quiet. “I don’t know how much, but… I’d prefer being around him to not being around him.”</p>
<p>“Big bro has a big crush,” Lup sighed, petting his hair. “Here’s the plan, ready?”</p>
<p>Taako nodded.</p>
<p>“We teach me how to be a queen, you abdicate the throne, you follow him back to Goodcastle on his mandatory return for a few months,” she said. “Write me while you’re there, do some research on mother’s sister, and then return with him and see how you feel.”</p>
<p>Taako hadn’t even thought about it. Kravitz had to return to Goodcastle to update the king on the kingdoms’ relations and to have a proper break from, you know, being an ambassador. It was something he was expected to do every few years, which meant that it was a perfect excuse for Taako to follow him and spend some time together without any nonsense. It was also the perfect chance to investigate the twins’ mother’s sister’s existence. </p>
<p>“After that, do whatever your heart tells you to,” Lup finished, pushing him back from their hug to look into his eyes. “Because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me.”</p>
<p>Taako held her gaze a moment, feeling his heart fill with love for his sister. Then he cracked a smile. “You really want to be queen, huh?”</p>
<p>“Dude, you have no idea how many childhood dreams you will be realizing for me,” Lup said, smiling wide too. “This is a win-win, please, for the love of the gods, take it!”</p>
<p>Taako laughed. “Alright, alright! You win, you get to be Queen of Arendelle!”</p>
<p>Lup pulled him back into a hug and laughed with him. She really did feel extremely excited about the prospect of being able to be queen. She had always looked up to their mother and her ability to be an extremely reverent and caring queen, and looked up to their father and his ability to rule in a way that made every voice feel heard. She knew Taako had tried his best to emulate their parents, but she also knew he never really wanted to be king. He had wanted to study the stars. Meanwhile, Lup had been preoccupied wanting to just leave the castle all her life until she was finally able to. But after that happened, she realized she always wanted to return and be involved in the decision-making processes of just about everything. She would absolutely want to see the world, but she was also positive she would want to return to her family’s palace after seeing the world. She wanted to build a family, she wanted to build a bigger and better kingdom, she wanted to build a brighter future for their kingdom. And above everything else, she wanted Taako to find what he wanted to build too. </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>When they finally sat down to talk with Barry, he was frazzled and confused, but lit up when he saw Lup. She jumped right past the pleasantries and crushed him in a hug. He stood still in surprise and then hugged her back, tucking his face into her shoulder. Lucretia and Taako politely looked away while he cried over missing her and being sorry he forgot her. Lup reassured him it was her fault he had forgotten her and that it would never happen again.</p>
<p>Once the tears were done, they all sat down to figure out what it was Barry wanted to do with his mother’s research.</p>
<p>“She used to study preservation and sustainability and things like that,” Barry explained. “But I was thinking about it, and it might be more helpful to start some official research into magic.”</p>
<p>“Oh?” Taako said, finally listening.</p>
<p>“I mean, there’s some powerful stuff out there,” Barry said, shifting in his chair. “It almost melted my mind when I tried to comprehend why I knew about the ice palace in the mountains. If something like that can happen on accident, what could someone do on purpose?”</p>
<p>“Why would you want to research something that terrifying?” Lucretia asked, eyes wide.</p>
<p>“Because once you learn about something, it becomes less terrifying,” Barry said with a determined look in his eyes. “The only way to reduce fear about your powers, and any other magic user’s powers for that matter, is to learn as much as we can about them.”</p>
<p>“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Lup said, smiling at Barry. “You could even come work at the palace!”</p>
<p>“Are we deciding this?” Lucretia said, turning to the twins.</p>
<p>“I value Lup’s opinion, if she’s saying yes then so am I,” Taako said. They had decided to keep their plan a secret for now, not wanting to worry people, least of all Lucretia, who already worked too hard on the regular.</p>
<p>“Then it’s decided!” Lup said, clasping her hands together with a radiant smile. “We’ll start construction on some Royal Laboratories immediately!”</p>
<p>“We’ll what?!” Lucretia sputtered, getting up to follow Lup, who had jumped up from her seat to go tell whoever needed telling to set such a thing in motion.</p>
<p>At the table, Taako stared at Barry for a short while. Barry watched Lup leave, smiling fondly and chuckling at her reaction. When he looked back and saw Taako staring at him, he shrunk in his seat and cleared his throat. Taako fought a grin.</p>
<p>“Do you like my sister?” Taako asked, point blank.</p>
<p>“I-I- of course, Your Highness,” Barry said, struggling for his words.</p>
<p>“But do you, like… Like-like her?” Taako asked, pulling his arms up to rest his elbows on the table so he could hold his head in his hands like a gossiping schoolgirl.</p>
<p>Barry stuttered for a response, slowly turning red in the process.</p>
<p>“Because seriously, Bear-Bear, that’s super embarrassing,” Taako teased, grinning at him. </p>
<p>Barry looked helpless, still opening and closing his mouth to try and find words to say.</p>
<p>“Gods, Barry, I’m just joking,” Taako said, dropping his act to finally look concerned. “Remember to breathe!”</p>
<p>“I-I just-…” Barry shifted and looked down. “… I do really like her.”</p>
<p>Taako smiled at him. “I know.”</p>
<p>Barry glanced up at him.</p>
<p>“She likes you too.” Taako pushed himself back from the table and stood, pushing the chair back under the table. “You guys could really be something, you know?”</p>
<p>Barry stood too, putting his chair back. “I-I suppose so…”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to give you a shovel talk, I don’t want to tell you to stay away from her, I know she can handle herself if it ever came to that,” Taako said dismissively, though Barry wanted to protest that he would ever do something bad to her. “Just promise me one thing.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?” Barry asked.</p>
<p>“Whatever happens, be her friend,” Taako said. He walked over to put a hand on Barry’s shoulder. “She hasn’t had many, and she just spent two years in a glacier. She needs friends more than anything.”</p>
<p>“She just what?” Barry was totally thrown off by that, completely taken out of the moment by how confused he suddenly was.</p>
<p>“Oh. Right. Well, don’t worry about that, just be her friend, okay?” Taako said, trying to push past his awkward excuse for a non-explanation.</p>
<p>“Y-yeah, I promise,” Barry said, nodding to him. “But uh… Could you explain that to me?”</p>
<p>“Sure, Bear-Bear,” Taako sighed, putting his arm around Barry’s shoulders and walking with him toward where Lup and Lucretia had run off earlier. “It all started with that expedition…” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Like I said before, I'm so sorry all three final chapters can't be posted today! I really anticipated having the time to finish writing the epilogue, but I ended up having so much more to do than I anticipated. I will post it as soon as it's done, which I promise will be soon! <br/>I hope you enjoyed this story! I really enjoyed writing it! I'm excited to write even more for this au in the future too... ;)<br/>As always, thank you all so much for reading, I appreciate you all so much!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A lot changes, a lot stays the same. In the end, it's only the beginning.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whoa, sorry! I didn't mean for this to take so long!! But it's finished now, totally and completely! I'm even adding on my notes as an extra gift for waiting so long as an extra chapter! I'm so appreciative of those who have read these fics and enjoyed them, you all mean the world to me!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“When was the country founded?” Taako asked. He was reclined on the couch in Lup’s room, a book resting on his face to hide his eyes while she got dressed.</p>
<p>“1814,” Lup answered. She was keeping her arms up while a maid helped her with her corset.</p>
<p>“Which hand do you hold the scepter in?” Taako asked. He barely stifled a yawn.</p>
<p>“Uh,” Lup blanched, staring at her reflection in the mirror. “R-right?”</p>
<p>“Correct,” Taako said. “Therefore, the orb?”</p>
<p>“In the left,” Lup said with a nod.</p>
<p>“What does that symbolize?” Taako asked.</p>
<p>“The scepter symbolizes the power of the monarchy,” Lup started, thinking back to her first lessons. “The orb symbolizes the world and the monarch’s godly power to hold it. You hold the scepter in your right hand because it’s the active hand. The orb is held in the left because it’s the inactive hand.”</p>
<p>“More,” Taako said, lifting a hand to wave it in a circle.</p>
<p>“Uh, right,” Lup muttered. She stumbled a bit as one of the maids tightened her corset so it was snug against her torso. “It’s b-because…”</p>
<p>“Because the scepter is meant to be-” Taako started, but Lup interrupted him.</p>
<p>“Ah! Because the scepter is meant to be used, and the orb is meant to be held! The power is meant to be used, and the world is meant to be held! It’s supposed to be like, the reining monarch is trusted to use the scepter to protect the orb, use the power to protect the world!”</p>
<p>“Correct,” Taako said with a smile. “Last one.”</p>
<p>“Hit me.” Lup wobbled as her maids helped her to finally put on her dress. A huge, lavish purple and green gown that her grandmother had apparently worn to her coronation. It had been adjusted to fit the current style. They’d never known their grandparents, but the Royal Articles (as in articles of clothing) were kept safe in the palace for these very occasions.</p>
<p>“The crown,” Taako started, and Lup nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “How many jewels are in it?”</p>
<p>“The whole thing or the band?” Lup asked, cleverly knowing there was a different answer depending on the question.</p>
<p>“Good,” Taako commented. “The band.”</p>
<p>“Five,” she answered, sighing when the maids finally finished putting her dress on her.</p>
<p>“Which symbolize?” Taako questioned.</p>
<p>“The five regions of the country,” she answered, turning to step down from the dressing platform. “How do I look?”</p>
<p>Taako sat up, letting the book fall into his lap. He looked over the back of the couch to see his sister, fully done up, looking all queenly and regal. She almost looked like their mother, though he could see their father in her too, in the way she held herself. Her dress was properly bell-shaped with a center-pointed waistline and a wide neckline just over her shoulders. The drapery of the skirt was a deep green pleated fabric, with the hemline embroidered with traditional Norwegian designs in gold thread. The top of the dress was the family’s shade of deep royal purple, gathered at the back and followed by a long train. She wore their mother’s jewels, the necklace and earrings, and had her hair pulled up to match their mother’s preferred style. </p>
<p>“Wow,” Taako said, resting his head on the back of the couch, admiring her dress. “Very traditional, very regal. I think mother would be proud.”</p>
<p>Lup smiled and moved her hips back and forth, watching the skirt swish from side to side. “It’s surprisingly comfortable, but I can’t wait to wear something less heavy for the party.”</p>
<p>“Ooh, an outfit change?” Taako teased, raising an eyebrow. “The country better get ready, we have a tradition-breaker on our hands!”</p>
<p>“Like you didn’t break a boatload of traditions,” Lup said, rolling her eyes. “By the way, what do the rest of the jewels of the crown represent?”</p>
<p>“The royal family,” Taako said. He finally stood and walked around the couch, carefully straightening out her neckline and brushing down her skirt. “A new jewel is added for every generation. If either of us ever have kids, they’ll add another gem to the top.”</p>
<p>“That’s so interesting,” Lup said, looking off toward the window. “What does the medal for the king mean? The one he wears all the time?”</p>
<p>“The one I threw off a mountain?” Taako asked, cringing at the memory.</p>
<p>“Yeah, the one we have to pay to replace?” Lup eyed him with a teasing grin.</p>
<p>“It also has five jewels to symbolize the regions of the country,” Taako explained. He straightened out her necklace and then stepped back to take a look at her again. “The band is purple, the family’s color, and the back has the family crest on it.”</p>
<p>“The back?” Lup questioned, looking back at him with an eyebrow raised.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s supposed to symbolize keeping the family against your heart,” Taako said with a nod. “To encourage you to rule by the example of the previous members of the royal family.”</p>
<p>“Huh.” Lup looked down at her necklace. “Why don’t the queens wear a medal?”</p>
<p>“They have a tiara,” Taako explained, then made a face. “You should know this already. Did you skip this chapter?”</p>
<p>“Maybe,” Lup muttered, fidgeting with a part of the opulent necklace. Taako swatted at her hand.</p>
<p>“The tiara has a similar idea attached to it,” Taako said with a sigh. “It has five jewels, and a family crest on the inside of the band. What do you think that symbolizes?”</p>
<p>Lup pursed her lips, frowning at the ground. “Keeping the family in your mind?”</p>
<p>“And?”</p>
<p>“And ruling by example, but with your mind? Or something?”</p>
<p>“Basically,” Taako chuckled. “It’s kind of… Patriarchal, but the idea is that men are raised to think with their heads and women with their hearts, so the items worn by the sitting regent is supposed to encourage thinking with the opposite. Men considering their feelings, women using logic and critical thinking.”</p>
<p>“Strange.” Lup looked at her dress thoughtfully. “I wonder if we couldn’t break some of those traditions, too…”</p>
<p>“You want a medal?” Taako asked, holding out his arm for her to take. They would be late to Lup’s coronation if they took any longer.</p>
<p>“Maybe,” Lup sighed, taking his arm and starting to walk with him out of her room. “Or maybe I just want there to be new traditions, something to show the people that we’re moving into the future and not getting bogged down with the traditions of royalty’s past.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure they already know that,” Taako snorted. “They’ve got two magical monarchs, after all.”</p>
<p>“Well sure, but still.”</p>
<p>They walked to the front room of the palace, where they were then escorted to the Royal Chapel. The bells had rung already, and all that was left was for Lup to remember her rehearsal and finally be crowned. It took them a year and a half to get her to the point that she could reasonably rule. Half that first year, they’d managed to keep their plan a secret from Lucretia. But when she realized the tutor they hired wasn’t actually a tutor for dressmaking, but the Royal Chapel’s priest, someone who only tutored a budding king or queen- there was a lot of yelling that day. After lots of explaining, Lucretia realized that this decision was definitely theirs to make and had already been made. For the remaining year, Lucretia helped Lup prepare to be queen. Truthfully, it had been terrifying to Lup, the idea of leading her country. But it was also exhilarating and exciting. She would be able to finish her father’s work in expanding the kingdom north, she would be able to finish her mother’s work in providing citizens with adequate schooling, and she would be able to find what it was she wanted to do as queen as well! The possibilities were endless, and she was determined to explore them all.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The ballroom was just as full of excitement as it was with people. Citizens were dancing, laughing, drinking, and just celebrating their new queen. The music was joyous, the people’s faces were joyous, and once upon a time all this would have made Taako wound up tight with anxiety. But right now, under the glowing chandeliers, surrounded by drunk people making too much noise, Taako actually felt calm. Happy, even. He was leaning on the table of deserts, watching his sister, the new Queen of Arendelle, force a much too overdressed Barry Bluejeans to dance with her. Taako was sipping wine, existing in the moment, and he realized his shoulders were not tight. He realized his jaw was not clenched. He realized his chest was not tight. He realized for the first time that this had been the right choice, that he could actually exist without anxiety constantly crushing his chest, that this choice might just be what truly set him free.</p>
<p>“Are you all caught up in your thoughts, or could I ask for some of your time?” Taako turned, startling slightly, and saw Kravitz’s smiling face. He was dressed in the most fancy outfit Taako had ever seen him in. It had been a few months since they’d seen each other, but ever since Taako had told him about the fact that he wasn’t going to be king soon, Kravitz had been in a wonderful mood that he couldn’t hide very well at all.</p>
<p>“Oh, hello,” Taako said, still surprised by his sudden appearance. Taako used to be hyper-aware of anyone and anything around him, he was surprised at himself for not realizing Kravitz had come up to him. “I’d love to share some time with you.”</p>
<p>Kravitz smiled a bit wider, looking down at his shoes for a moment. “You looked so happy, I almost didn’t want to interrupt you.”</p>
<p>“I am happy,” Taako said. He was a bit drunk, so he wasn’t sure how well he was going to carry this conversation, but fuck it, right? It was a party, he didn’t need to make sense. “This whole fuckin’ country is happy right now, look at them go!”</p>
<p>Kravitz laughed, turning to take a glass of wine for himself. “They certainly love their monarchs, and for good reason. They’re good people being ruled by good people.”</p>
<p>“You’re too kind,” Taako said, waving a hand. “What have you been up to?”</p>
<p>“Well, I’ve been making very early preparations for this year’s Autumn Festival, since I’ll be going back to Goodcastle before the fall,” Kravitz said, sighing. It seemed like he deflated a little when he said it, which made Taako’s ears perk up.</p>
<p>“Not excited to go home for a few months?” Taako asked, taking a sip of his wine.</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m excited to go home, to see my sister, but I just…” Kravitz sighed again. “I’m going to miss Arendelle. It’s- pardon the term, but it’s magical up here.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure Goodcastle is plenty magical,” Taako said, trying to act nonchalant. “What’s it like in Hellenea?”</p>
<p>“Oh Hellenea is beautiful,” Kravitz said instantly, seemingly slipping into a memory. “Rolling countrysides, lively lakes and rivers, trees taller than this palace- it truly feels like a romantic’s dream.”</p>
<p>“Sounds like a very different environment,” Taako said, thinking of the oft-snowy, wooded hills of Arendelle’s countryside. “I bet that would be a sight to see.”</p>
<p>“It truly is,” Kravitz said, smiling slightly as he remembered where he grew up. “Even though I was born there, I still find it so beautiful, so breathtaking. Arendelle is just as breathtaking, it’s hard to choose where I want to be more.”</p>
<p>Taako, well past drunk, tried his hardest to find a new way to suggest he wanted to go back with Kravitz. “Um… How many rooms does your house back home have?”</p>
<p>Kravitz looked at him, confused, and took a moment to respond. “A-about… Five… Why?”</p>
<p>“Five, cool,” Taako said, sipping his wine. “You have… people… staying in those… rooms?”</p>
<p>Kravitz stared, becoming increasingly more confused. “Just my sister and her husband and their two children.”</p>
<p>“Hm, so your sister and her husband share a room, the kids have their own, and you have one? You have a guest room too?” Taako was finding it harder to play this off as a casual conversation.</p>
<p>“The- the kids share a room,” Kravitz said, finally shaking his head out of the confusion of Taako’s questions. “Taako, are you trying to tell me something?”</p>
<p>“Tell? No,” Taako said, shaking his head fast. Then he glanced over at Kravitz. “Am I trying to ask you something? Depends on your answer…”</p>
<p>“What?” Kravitz blinked at him. “Taako, what is it you wanted to ask?”</p>
<p>Taako looked at him, the wine making his patience run thin. “You can’t surmise from my previous questions?”</p>
<p>Kravitz looked at him, then looked down at his wine glass. “I’m not sure what you…”</p>
<p>“Gods, Kravitz, your head is made of lead,” Taako sighed. He downed the rest of his wine and set the glass down, grabbing a second and then turning to Kravitz. “Would you like an escort back to Goodcastle?”</p>
<p>Kravitz stared at him, seemingly unable to comprehend what his question meant.</p>
<p>“I want to see Goodcastle,” Taako said, leaning a little closer. “And I’d like to have an experienced tour guide.”</p>
<p>Kravitz’s eyes widened, finally realizing what Taako was asking. Then he smiled wide, seemingly against his will. “Y-you want to come with me back to Goodcastle?”</p>
<p>“I may have some business there, and I think I could use a vacation after all this drama,” Taako sipped his drink casually. </p>
<p>“But- but your sister just got crowned, don’t you need to be here?” Kravitz asked, thought he looked far too excited to be trying to convince Taako to stay.</p>
<p>“She’s a big girl, she can handle herself,” Taako said dismissively. “She’s been studying like a madwoman to prepare for this job, and she’s extremely excited to actually start doing all the queen stuff. And like I said, I have business in Goodcastle anyway, all I need is a place to stay.”</p>
<p>Kravitz beamed impossibly brighter, his hands fidgeting like he didn’t know how to express his happiness. “It would be my humble honor to-”</p>
<p>“Please, babe, drop the fancy-man talk,” Taako said gently, patting his shoulder.</p>
<p>“I would absolutely love for you to accompany me back to Goodcastle,” Kravitz said, his cheeks turned pink at Taako calling him babe.</p>
<p>“Good,” Taako said with a nod. He looked back out to the ballroom. “… You wanna dance?”</p>
<p>Kravitz looked to him in surprise. “You want to?”</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” Taako hooked his arm under Kravitz’s, turning to put his wineglass down. “I’m drunk enough, I want to dance with you.”</p>
<p>Still slightly take aback by Taako’s forwardness, Kravitz nodded to him and set his glass down too. “Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The ship ride felt like an age, Taako was incredibly exhausted by the time they finally disembarked from the ship. They rode a carriage, the style of which Taako had never seen before, from the docks inland. The city they went through was like nothing Taako had seen before, which he prepared to feel that for a while.</p>
<p>Kravitz’s childhood home, a massive thing that, again, looked like nothing Taako had ever seen before, was on one of those rolling hills Kravitz had talked about. It was lit up inside, glowing with candlelight and with a strong welcoming energy. As the carriage approached, a woman in a yellow and blue gingham dress ran out to meet them. It was almost sundown, so everything had a very emotional glow to it. Taako understood now why Kravitz had described it as a romantic’s dream.</p>
<p>“Kravitz!” the woman called excitedly. Her black coiled hair was falling out slightly from her bun. Taako was surprised at how much she looked like Kravitz, though she had a more feminine bone structure. They shared the same prominent cheekbones, a feature that Taako had never realized until he met Kravitz that he found added significantly to a person’s attractiveness. </p>
<p>“Charlotte!” Kravitz said as he hopped out of the carriage. He wrapped his sister in a tight hug, and she rocked him side to side.</p>
<p>“I’m so happy you’re back, you have so much to tell me!” Charlotte said, then she realized there was someone else stepping out of the carriage. “Oh, who’s this?”</p>
<p>“This is Prince Taako Yuno of Arendelle,” Kravitz said, very officially, taking his sister’s arm and patting her hand.</p>
<p>“Oh my lord,” she said, eyes widening. “I- why didn’t you tell me you were bringing a prince home?! I would’ve done my hair, I would’ve worn a nice dress!”</p>
<p>“It’s fine, I promise,” Taako said, smiling at her. “It’s very nice to meet you.”</p>
<p>“It is an honor to meet you,” Charlotte said, pulling her arm free to properly curtsy.</p>
<p>“Oh, please, there’s no need to be so formal,” Taako insisted. “I’m here as a guest and nothing else, I promise.”</p>
<p>“If you insist, Your Highness,” Charlotte said. She held her hands gently in front of her, unsure of how casual to act around him yet.</p>
<p>“None of that, either,” Taako said. “It’s fine to call me by my name, I’d rather be a nobody out here.”</p>
<p>“Pardon my question, but are you… hiding from someone?” she asked, glancing to her brother, unsure.</p>
<p>“No, it’s more like he’s on vacation,” Kravitz explained. “He just abdicated the throne to his sister, so he wanted to come here and see the place I always told him about.”</p>
<p>Charlotte stared at her brother a while, glanced at Taako, then looked back to Kravitz. “Are you dating?”</p>
<p>Kravitz laughed nervously, waving a hand, but he looked at Taako as if asking for an answer too. Taako smiled at their interaction and shook his head with fondness.</p>
<p>“I believe the term is courting,” Taako said with a thoughtful look. “But I must say, your brother is quite bad at keeping a lady’s attention.”</p>
<p>“He’s always been a poor companion for ladies,” Charlotte said teasingly. “He has too many boyfriends.”</p>
<p>“Friends who are boys!” Kravitz exclaimed, his face turning red. “Not boyfriends, Charlotte!”</p>
<p>“Oh? So you don’t have any boyfriends?” Charlotte said, feigning surprise. </p>
<p>“I believe he has one,” Taako corrected, smirking at Kravitz.</p>
<p>“He does?” Kravitz said, caught off guard.</p>
<p>“So I’ve heard,” Charlotte said. Then she laughed and dropped her silly act. “Come inside, you two. Clearly we have much to discuss!”</p>
<p>“Clearly,” Taako agreed, following her up the path to the house. Kravitz trailed behind, still gathering his wits.</p>
<p>Inside the warmly lit house, they were greeted by a tall man dressed rather nicely. His skin was dark like his wife’s and Kravitz’s, his hair was cut short, and he wore a smile to rival his wife’s.</p>
<p>“Thank you so much for letting me stay here,” Taako said after they’d finally sat down for dinner. Charlotte had made them a warm meal with a bottle of what Kravitz insisted was their best wine. </p>
<p>“It’s no trouble,” Charlotte’s husband, Abraham, said with a winning smile. “It’s the least we can do for royalty!”</p>
<p>“Eh, foreign royalty,” Taako said, shrugging. </p>
<p>“Does that mean you know princesses?!” Cecilia, one of their kids, asked excitedly.</p>
<p>“Yes, it does!” Taako responded, turning to smile at her. “I know lots of princesses!”</p>
<p>“Whoa,” she breathed, resting her head on the table and staring in wonder at Taako.</p>
<p>“Does that mean you live in a castle?” their other child, Blessing, asked, head tilted to the side. </p>
<p>“Yes,” Taako answered, nodding to him. “It’s very big, and made of gray stone.”</p>
<p>“What’s the difference between a castle and a palace?” Blessing asked. He had his small arms folded and resting on the table.</p>
<p>“Kids, please, sit up straight,” Charlotte said, though she sounded like she knew her request was going to go ignored.</p>
<p>“Well, a castle is a fortified structure,” Taako started. He was glad to talk with these kids, they seemed like the curious type and he was happy to encourage that. Blessing looked a bit older than his sister, but only by a couple years. “A palace is for show, something that people live in and that mostly is just there to look nice. Castles are meant to be hard to get into, so that the people inside will be safe.”</p>
<p>“Huh,” Blessing said, staring at Taako with curiosity as he spoke. </p>
<p>“In Arendelle, where I’m from, the palace is inside the castle, so that the whole building is protected,” Taako explained. </p>
<p>“That’s really smart,” Blessing said. “That way it won’t get destroyed.”</p>
<p>“Right.” Taako smiled at him. </p>
<p>“Please, kids, eat your food, it’s getting late,” Abraham said. </p>
<p>They did as they were told, their curiosities satisfied for now. Kravitz smiled to himself over their interactions, glad that Taako meeting his sister and her family was going so well.</p>
<p>After dinner, Taako practically collapsed in bed, exhausted from the travel and socializing. Kravitz politely put out his room’s candles, closed all the curtains, and then quietly shut the door behind him as he left to go to his own room.</p>
<p>The next morning, Taako didn’t wake until late in the morning. Kravitz eventually went to wake him up by throwing all the curtains open. He was met with a few pillows to the head, but Taako did accept the freshly brewed coffee and freshly made toast. They spent that first day orienting Taako around the house and the land they owned. Or, more specifically, that Charlotte owned. Ever since Kravitz left to become an ambassador, she had been given all the rights to the house and land. Rightfully called Duchess Wells of Hellenea, Charlotte informed Taako about how far they were from the city, and where the most important buildings were within the city, such as the hospital, post office, and the grocery store. Once he was fully briefed on that, and after Charlotte and Abraham left to go to the city for business, Taako finally took a good look outside at the land they were on.</p>
<p>Rolling hills, just like Kravitz had said, were all around them. Every so often, there were patches of trees and sometimes thick forest on those hills. In the far distance, Taako saw smoke from one of the many farmhouses on this land. Taako still didn’t totally understand how this all worked, but apparently people lived on the land, paid taxes to Charlotte, and even provided portions of what they produced to her and her family. Very different to how things worked in Arendelle.</p>
<p>By the evening of the first day, Taako was sat at the writing desk in his guest room, writing a letter to his sister. He told her about the rolling hills, the tall and square house, the beautiful and kind people he’d met, and anything else he could think of. How the grass smelled different, how the sky looked different, how the food tasted different, how the clothing felt different, how people with the complete opposite skin pigmentation to him existed and were gorgeous- anything and everything he could think of.</p>
<p>When he finished his letter, he went to Kravitz and asked how they would send it. Kravitz put it by the door and promised they would take it to the post office first thing tomorrow morning. </p>
<p>They had another big dinner with wine and idle chatter, the kids once again had found even more questions, and Taako decided to turn in early and get some quality rest. Kravitz helped him put out the candles and close the curtains and then went to bed himself.</p>
<p>The next day, Taako was woken up early by Kravitz and forced out of bed in order to leave for the post office. He was still tired when they left, but Taako joined Kravitz and Charlotte in a carriage into the city. It was an experience Taako had never had. The city was full of people and other carriages similar to their own. People were running errands, children were playing in the streets, and every building was connected to the ones beside it. Everything was packed in tightly into one area, every aspect of life was compacted together. The noises, the smells, the way the buildings and the people looked, even the way the air felt on Taako’s skin when he got out of the carriage was different.</p>
<p>He held onto Kravitz’s arm as they walked through the city toward the post office. Truthfully he was afraid of getting lost in the sea of bustling activity. Kravitz patted his hand and walked confidently through the masses of people. Something else that Taako found endlessly interesting was that people knew him. Some shopkeepers would wave to him, people on the street would wear expressions of recognition when they saw him, some kids even ran over to say hello. Everyone seemed to wonder who Taako was, but he was busy being a total tourist and gawking at them.</p>
<p>The post office was another tall building connected to many others. Inside was quieter than the noise of the street, thankfully. Kravitz and Taako walked inside and went straight to the counter to mail the letter.</p>
<p>“One letter to mail overseas,” Kravitz said, putting the letter down on the counter.</p>
<p>“Do you have an envelope?” the woman behind the counter asked, smiling at him.</p>
<p>“Oh, no we didn’t have any at the house,” Kravitz said, blinking like he just remembered he would need one. Taako wondered what the hell an envelope was. “Do you have any here I could purchase?”</p>
<p>“Yes we do,” the woman said, pulling out a small box from under the counter and setting it down for Kravitz to look through. “We have regular envelopes, large envelopes for things like legal documents, and special floral envelopes for the summer.”</p>
<p>“A regular should do it,” Kravitz said, pulling a plain envelope from the box. “Thank you so much.”</p>
<p>“It’s no trouble,” the woman said with another smile. “It’s been hard getting used to using them, even harder to convince people they need them too.”</p>
<p>“What are they?” Taako asked, head tilted to the side.</p>
<p>“They’re meant to keep the letter safe from getting dirty or wet, also to keep pages from getting lost,” the woman explained. “It’s called an envelope because it envelopes the letter.”</p>
<p>“Huh.” Taako thought about how useful that sounded, which was very. He might bring that idea back to Arendelle with him.</p>
<p>“So, how much for the envelope and the postage?” Kravitz asked.</p>
<p>While they worked to prepare the letter to be sent, copying the address onto the envelope and chatting a little about where Arendelle was and how far away it was, Taako watched Kravitz interact with this person. He seemed completely comfortable, totally in his element. He had definitely spoken to this woman many times before, as he apparently had with many other people in the city. Thinking back, Taako remembered Kravitz being very anxious and timid when dealing with business in Arendelle. He had seemed unsure of his actions, worried he would overstep bounds, etc. But here, here in the kingdom of Goodcastle in the city of Apricity, Taako could tell Kravitz was home.</p>
<p>After they finished up at the post office, they walked back out to the street. Kravitz told Taako that Charlotte would likely be a while longer and that they could just walk around. Taako agreed, keeping his arm tucked under Kravitz’s so he wouldn’t get lost. While they walked around a new street Taako hadn’t seen before, they spotted a clothing shop with well-dressed mannequins in the windows. Taako pulled Kravitz through the doors and dragged him through the little parlor, getting a new outfit. By the end of their shopping trip, Taako looked like he fit right in with everyone else in the city. Kravitz held the dress box filled with Taako’s previous outfit for him. When they finally made their way back to the carriage, Charlotte was waiting for them. </p>
<p>“Oh my!” she exclaimed, smiling wide. “Well, look at you! Those suit you just perfectly!”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Charlotte,” Taako said, grinning back at her. </p>
<p>They all went home, and Taako finally felt the excitement of the day catching up with him. He was pretty sure he fell asleep on Kravitz’s shoulder, because he woke up when the carriage finally came to a stop outside the house. </p>
<p>The next month was uneventful in the best way Taako had ever experienced. Sometimes he and Kravitz went into town with Charlotte or Abraham, sometimes Taako just spent the day sitting by the window and watching the wind blow the trees gently, sometimes Taako played outside with Cecilia and Blessing, and often he spent hours in the day writing letters to Lup. </p>
<p>By the time the second month rolled around, Taako decided it was time to start looking for Paloma. The first place he went was city hall. They told him that there was no way he could just ask for someone named Paloma and expect to find her, because there were so many people living in the city. Sure enough, there were around thirty women living in Apricity alone named Paloma, all of which were far too young to be related to Taako and Lup. The second place he went was the castle, where he was lucky enough to get an audience with the king. When he explained he was looking for a family member, the king immediately put together a team to locate Taako’s aunt. He promised he would send for Taako the moment they heard any news of where she was.</p>
<p>With that, Taako went back to relaxing with Kravitz, his sister, and her family. Someone else was taking care of it, hell yeah.</p>
<p>The third month was spent waiting for the King of Goodcastle to get back to him. At first he was fine with waiting, it meant he didn’t have to do any work. But after a while, Taako started getting antsy. When he got a letter from the king saying they were barely making progress, that wherever she was she was well-hidden, Taako started to feel a little depressed. What if she wasn’t even alive anymore? </p>
<p>Before Taako knew it, it was time for Kravitz to go back to Arendelle. Taako packed up all his new things, his new outfits, his gifts for his friends and Lup, a handful of recipes Charlotte had given him for the wonderful dishes she’d made while he was there, and other small pieces of the country he wanted to take back to Arendelle, like envelopes and stamps and Apricitian fashion magazines. He was fascinated by the culture of Goodcastle, it was so different from Arendelle.</p>
<p>The King of Goodcastle had sent one last letter saying that he would continue to search for Paloma until they found her, and even tho Taako was starting to lose hope it still made him feel better knowing that there were people actively searching for her. He could only hope that she got found.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The air in Arendelle felt different when Taako returned home. Lup pulled out all the stops, threw a huge party in the kingdom and ran to the docks to meet him with a crushing hug. The citizens of the kingdom rejoiced so hard that they had to take a day off from school the next day, seeing as all the adults had hangovers. </p>
<p>“You look different,” Lup observed the morning after he’d returned. She’d payed close attention to him when he’d gotten off the ship. He didn’t seem so stiff and tense anymore, he looked relaxed and calm, which Lup begrudgingly admitted was something she never thought would happen to him. It made her so happy, though. It meant that he actually had relaxed. He even looked more tan.</p>
<p>“Do I?” Taako asked, raising an eyebrow. Even now, Lup observed, he was sitting slouched in his chair, leaning on one elbow with his legs crossed under the table. “I guess that makes sense.”</p>
<p>“Do you feel different?” she asked, sipping her morning coffee.</p>
<p>“I feel…” Taako pursed his lips and squinted at the ceiling. “Yeah. I think I feel different. There’s not so much… Noise anymore.”</p>
<p>Lup smiled at him. “Good.”</p>
<p>Later that day, Taako updated her on the search for Paloma and how it was unlikely they’d find her very quickly. Lup was also frustrated at the news, but glad nonetheless that the King of Goodcastle had been so helpful to them. </p>
<p>Taako also started giving out presents that day, and he taught everyone how to use envelopes and told Lucretia to make it the kingdom’s standard for sending mail. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful invention and that it would do very well to be widely used in Arendelle.</p>
<p>It took a day or two of settling back in, but eventually Taako visited Kravitz at the embassy with the intent to try cooking some of Charlotte’s recipes with Kravitz’s help. Kravitz was, of course, very excited to do so. They made a little piece of Kravitz’s home together and Taako even took a plate home to Lup to try.</p>
<p>By the second week home, Lup was ready to tell Taako about Barry’s research into their magic. Apparently, Barry had gone on multiple expeditions to the glacier to view it and to take samples of the ice that had broken off into the water. He had informed Lup that everything seemed fine with the glacier, it was losing the appropriate amount of ice for the time of year, but that the magic within the ice didn’t last very long after it broke off from the glacier. He had a theory about why this was, that it could be something about the amount of power sustaining itself (much like ice keeping itself cold) and needing a certain amount of magic in one place to keep it there. Even though they were both magical, it just barely went over both Lup and Taako’s heads for the time being. In the end, Barry simply said that more research was needed to find out more about their powers.</p>
<p>While on a warm afternoon, sitting by the open window of the embassy, Taako watched Kravitz do some silly paperwork that Taako didn’t need to know about anymore and felt so incredibly sure of something that he’d never thought about before. He saw it all in an instant, this moment, a thousand like it, and a thousand more that would come to pass. He saw the flash of a golden ring and the warmth of a hearth and everything melted into one moment that pushed right past his lips.</p>
<p>“Will you marry me?” Taako asked. In hindsight, it was truly apropos of nothing, they’d been sitting together in silence, the warm air from outside filtering into the room through the window, blowing the light curtains around, their empty teacups sitting between them on the table. Kravitz was doing work, he had taken a tea break and had gone back to working, and Taako had been absolutely silent for a solid ten minutes, and suddenly he had said those words and Kravitz stared at him.</p>
<p>“Wh-what?” Kraivtz stuttered, finally finding his voice.</p>
<p>“Sorry, hold on.” Taako closed his eyes, frustrated with himself. He covered his eyes with his hand for a moment, then ran his hand through his hair and looked back at Kravitz.</p>
<p>“What I meant was, what are your thoughts on marriage?”</p>
<p>Kravitz stared for another few moments before blurting out a surprised laugh. “That- that’s not what you said.”</p>
<p>“I know, shut up,” Taako grumbled, kicking his foot under the low table. “It slipped out.”</p>
<p>“Well,” Kravitz chuckled, sitting up and straightening out his papers. “I suppose I think that marriage is a large step for a couple. It’s certainly an important one too.”</p>
<p>“Yeah yeah, but would you ever want to be married to someone?” Taako asked. He was hoping they could both pretend he hadn’t said what he’d said.</p>
<p>“I think if I were to marry someone, I would have to be very sure,” Kravitz answered thoughtfully, looking out the window. “I’d have to be sure about their feelings as much as mine.”</p>
<p>“So far we’re on the same page,” Taako said, nodding.</p>
<p>“I think if I were to marry someone, I would want to know if they would want to settle down or if they would be alright with traveling,” Kravitz went on, still gazing out the window at the tall trees not too far from the building. “I think they would have to meet my family, spend time with my sister’s kids so that I might see if they’re good with them, perhaps see how they enjoy the city.”</p>
<p>Taako started to glare at him despite the blush blooming over his face.</p>
<p>“They would definitely need to know how to cook,” Kravitz said, turning back to smirk at him playfully. “What about you?”</p>
<p>“Seeing as you’re the first boyfriend I’ve ever had,” Taako started, brushing off his growing blush. “I’m not quite sure what I’d want out of a marriage. Probably just someone I could spend the rest of my life with and someone to share theirs with me.”</p>
<p>“That’s not a very big ask,” Kravitz said, nodding. “Doable.”</p>
<p>Taako went back to glaring at him, fighting the smile that was trying to find its way to his face. “Good to know.”</p>
<p>“For the future,” Kravitz said.</p>
<p>“Yes, obviously,” Taako agreed, a smile finally breaking over his face. He turned to hide it and started laughing.</p>
<p>Kravitz laughed too, setting his papers down on the table. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned across the table. “Do you want to talk about what just happened?”</p>
<p>“Gods, no!” Taako shrieked, throwing his hands up and covering his face, laughing hysterically. “That was so embarrassing!”</p>
<p>“You just proposed to me!” Kravitz said, almost accusingly. </p>
<p>“I did, shut up!” Taako shouted, kicking his legs up over the arm of the couch to lay on his back on the couch. “I’m going to die from embarrassment!”</p>
<p>“Not before I get to answer!” Kravitz warned, still laughing.</p>
<p>“No! I don’t wanna know!” </p>
<p>They calmed themselves, barely, Kravitz was still fighting giggles as he spoke again. “You asked so suddenly, I didn’t know how to react the first time.”</p>
<p>Taako peeked at him through his fingers. “You’re not gonna get that out of me again.”</p>
<p>“Aw, why not?” Kravitz laughed. “I’d like to answer it properly.”</p>
<p>Taako stared at him, then eventually sat back up like an adult and uncovered his face. He was abruptly serious now, searching Kravitz’s face for any signs of joking. While he looked amused, he didn’t look like he was kidding.</p>
<p>“I’d like to answer properly,” he said again, softer this time.</p>
<p>Taako lifted his hand and magic pour from it into his other hand. He twisted them together and formed a small ring of ice, a band with intricate swirling lines weaving through it. Kravitz watched, transfixed, as he did so. Kravitz looked back up at him. “Guess I should ask properly then?”</p>
<p>Taako sat a little further forward on his couch and Kravitz sat up straighter. Taako held the ring between his fingers and tried not to get actually nervous. He’d literally just said this, just blurted it out, there was no reason to get anxious now.</p>
<p>“Kravitz Wells,” Taako started, smirking slightly at his formality. “Will you marry me?”</p>
<p>“I would be honored,” Kravitz answered, smiling warmly at him.</p>
<p>“Sap,” Taako said, feeling tears already forming in his eyes.</p>
<p>Kravitz held his hand out and Taako’s hand shook when he put the ring on his finger. Kravitz got up to move and sit next him, hugging him tight as he began to cry. Kravitz cried too, the immense joy he felt left them both laughing and in tears. Taako kissed him and neither of them could stop smiling.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Trophy husband, that was Taako’s new nickname for Kravitz. After they announced their engagement, he refused to call him anything else, even around others. Lup lost her shit every time and Kravitz’s face was red for what felt like a whole week. The kingdom rejoiced yet again, and everyone wanted to start planning the wedding right away.</p>
<p>“No,” Taako told Lucretia, continuing to pour his tea.</p>
<p>“What?” she said, startled. </p>
<p>“I said no,” he repeated, sitting back with his tea. “We’re taking our time. No rush. We might not even have it here.”</p>
<p>“Not have it-?!” she sputtered, looking to Lup.</p>
<p>“Don’t look at me!” Lup said, holding her hands up. “It’s his deal, not like I can tell him to get married!”</p>
<p>“But-!” Lucretia started, but Taako gave her a look.</p>
<p>“Lucy, there’s no reason to rush things,” he said. He pointed to the tray of tea. “Have a cup and calm the hell down. It’s a personal choice and I’m not going to change it.”</p>
<p>Lucretia almost pressed on, but she was startled by how different he was. He was almost like a different person now, she had noticed it like Lup had but hadn’t said anything. So, she sighed and made herself a cup of tea. “Fine, but… You should have it here.”</p>
<p>Taako looked thoughtfully into his cup. “Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to him about it. It would be a good chance to show his family around Arendelle.”</p>
<p>Lucretia nodded and took a drink of tea.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Barry had made an interesting discovery and had called the twins to the new Royal Laboratory to see what it was. When they got there, the lab was a bit of a mess. Papers were littered across the tables and a bit on the floor, coffee and tea cups were stacked on tables, and Barry himself had what looked like scorch marks on his protective lab coat.</p>
<p>“Lup, Taako!” he said excitedly, rushing over to them as they entered the lab. “You’re just in time to see the next experiment!”</p>
<p>The twins shared a concerned look just before being dragged across the room to a small glass box with a piece of glacial ice inside it.</p>
<p>“Okay, so first we have an isolated piece of the glacier,” Barry explained, reaching for something. “And we have this bottle of melted ice from the glacier.”</p>
<p>He opened the top of the glass box.</p>
<p>“Originally I thought that the magic left the ice when it melted,” Barry said.</p>
<p>“Right, because it stops glowing,” Lup said.</p>
<p>“Right! But I was wrong!” he exclaimed, beaming.</p>
<p>“You’re happy that you were wrong?” Taako said, confused.</p>
<p>“You were wrong?” Lup asked, amazed.</p>
<p>“Yes! Watch!” Barry poured the water over the ice and instead of falling right over it, it froze and made the small block bigger, and it glowed brighter.</p>
<p>“Holy shit!” Lup shouted, smiling wide and peering into the glass box. “What does that mean?!”</p>
<p>“I don’t know yet!” Barry was just as excited, unreasonably so if you asked Taako. Nerds. “We have to run more tests to find out if the magic ever leaves the water!”</p>
<p>“That’s so interesting, can I help?” Lup asked, eyes glittering with intrigue. </p>
<p>“Oh of course, Your Highness,” Barry said instantly. “If we could also analyze your fire magic, that would be immensely helpful!”</p>
<p>Taako stepped away, letting the nerds get their nerd all over each other by themselves. He smiled to himself as he left, his departure going completely unnoticed. They were made for each other, he thought with a laugh.</p>
<p>“What are you chuckling at?” Kravitz asked. He had been coming down the hall as Taako left the hall that lead to the lab.</p>
<p>“Oh, hello Trophy Husband,” Taako said, grinning. “I was just thinking about how my nerd sister and her nerd boyfriend are made for each other because they’re both nerds.”</p>
<p>Kravitz blushed at the nickname as usual, but brushed it off. “They do seem like a very good couple.”</p>
<p>“I wonder when he’ll get the nerve to propose,” Taako wondered aloud, hooking his arm with Kravitz’s, almost making him drop the papers he was holding. </p>
<p>“When he’s ready,” Kravitz said, shrugging. He smirked at Taako. “Who knows, could come completely out of the blue one day.”</p>
<p>“Fuck you!” Taako cackled, shoving him slightly, though not letting go of him. “Oh hey, when we do get married, would it be cool to have the wedding here?”</p>
<p>“I suppose that would be fine,” Kravitz said with a nod. “Just as long as my family can be here for it.”</p>
<p>“I’ll make sure they have a paid-for round trip,” Taako promised, squeezing his arm. “I really want them to experience Arendelle, too.”</p>
<p>“They would love it here.” Kravitz smiled at the idea of his sister and her husband and their kids all getting to see Arendelle. </p>
<p>“I’ll make sure of it,” Taako said determinedly, straightening up and looking comically serious.</p>
<p>Kravitz laughed, and the sound graced the ears of whoever was lucky enough to be around. Damn, Taako could be fuckin’ poetic sometimes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As I said before, I'm also posting my notes for this fic/universe as a gift for waiting so long for this final chapter! Thank you again for reading!! I still have big plans for this universe, but I don't think I'll be writing it anytime soon. So, for now, I hope you enjoyed these idiots!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Notes and Fun Facts!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This is just a collection of notes and/or fun facts that add some context to the story! Most refer to the time period and explain some things that might not make sense to some people.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Genovia is a reference to the Princess Diaries movies, it is the fictional kingdom/country where those movies take place.</p><p>Goodcastle is a reference to the second season of the Adventure Zone, it is the nonexistent kingdom that Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt believes he is the Knight in Absentia to. </p><p>Apricity is an old english word meaning the feeling of the warmth of the sun in the winter. In this fic, I chose this name for the London-like city within the kingdom of Goodcastle because it is supposed to be a similar city to Neverwinter/Eversummer in the first season of the Adventure Zone.</p><p>The envelope was first patented around 1845, and the first Frozen movie supposedly took place in July of 1843. Because of this, up until around 1845, letters were sent fully exposed and sealed along the edge with wax. For that reason, I added these elements into the fic because it seemed like an interesting way to place this fic within that timeline.</p><p>Lup’s dress is described as having a “bell-shaped skirt” which is the exact style that was prevalent within the royal courts of the world during the mid 1800s. If you look up mid-1800s court dresses, you’ll be able to see the inspiration for my description for the dress. It is also noted that the dress had been worn by Lup and Taako’s grandmother, and had been adjusted to fit the current style. While it was common for dresses to be altered to fit current style, it was far more uncommon for a dress to be kept for multiple generations. A young monarch like Lup would have had a new dress made for her coronation, maybe made with homages to her grandmother’s dress, but not out of it. But, for the sake of the story, this can be explained by there just not being enough time for a new dress to be made, and only enough time for the old one to be altered.</p><p>It is important to realize that electricity was not invented until 1879, so throughout this fic there are references to candles being used in chandeliers and being present in bedrooms. This was a fact of the time, even the lamppost was invented before electricity. Lampposts in the time period of this fic were gas lamps, with flickering flames inside them. </p><p>While the North Sea is an actual sea on the globe, the North Sea in this fic is technically the Norwegian Sea. The actual North Sea is the water between Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom. </p>
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